In the Shadow of Summer
by xxIAmTheSkyxx
Summary: While out on a mission, Natsu falls ill and passes out under mysterious circumstances. His experiences during the time he was unconscious force him to question the ideals he'd stood by his whole life and his own self-worth once he awakes. The rest of the gang decides to look into their friend's oddly reclusive behavior...and the answer isn't pretty.
1. Prologue: In The Shadow of Summer

_SURPRISE! I AM BACK IN ACTION (sort of)! FRICK YEAH!_

_Hey, all! I'm actually writing for another fandom now! GASP! :o_

_Okay, in all seriousness, this is more like my test comeback/outlet oneshot. I need to know whether I can produce quality work with this franchise or not with this (and whether or not I should keep writing as of now, since I'm technically still not off hiatus), so I would really appreciate all your support and feedback. If I get enough positive responses, I may continue this as a multi-chapter story, because I do have plans for this idea! :P_

_Oh, and this series doesn't belong to me; I only own the plot of this fic. I should start doing disclaimers with all my stories from now on…even though it's obvious that I don't own anything I write on this site other than my own plots._

_Ah, whatever. Hope you enjoy!_

**In The Shadow Of Summer**

_The only way I could say hello to Sir Strips-a-lot was to punch him in the face. That was the only possible way I could start the day. Though sometimes I decide to kick him in the face instead, or steal his underwear without him knowing, or –_

"GRAY, YOUR CLOTHES!"

…_Or Lucy could butt in. It worked for me either way._

_I should probably introduce her, huh? Her name's Lucy, and she's one of my closest friends here in the Fairy Tail wizard guild. She's kind of funny when she freaks out over every little thing, but she can get really scary sometimes. (She's so stupidly easy to tease, though!) She's also a total bookworm, and she's working on her own novel, even (though she's being a selfish prick and not letting any of us read it). Lucy is a seriously spunky girl; I'll give her that. Oh, and I just love her reactions to me and Happy breaking into her house. It's priceless! (Happy? Oh, he's just my talking blue cat buddy with magic wings. He loves fish!) I don't get what the deal with her is with that, though. What's so wrong about welcoming your friend home after a long day of work? Huh, I guess being closed off comes with coming from a rich family._

_Wait, what the heck was going on, anyway? Was I on the ground? Yeah, I think I was. I think somebody knocked me out; maybe that's why I couldn't remember._

_What was I supposed to be doing again?_

"Screw that! I'm gonna tear Pinkie a new one for socking me in the face!"

"Can't you give that a rest?! You and Natsu have some unfinished work to do! And you're supposed to help him up and keep fighting, not kick him while he's down! And besides, that was an accident!"

"Like hell it was!"

"Of course it was! Now put some clothes on!"

_Oh, right; I must've punched Gray in the face like I always did. I couldn't remember why, though. Did he almost goose me with his Ice Lance, or insult me or something…?_

…Wait a sec; who cared about that! He just insulted me!

"What'd you just call me?!" I snapped as I leapt to my feet, completely ignoring the huge knot on my head. I was vaguely aware that I'd just woken from an injury-induced nap, but I didn't care about that at the moment.

And c'mon – for the last freakin' time; my hair isn't pink! It's light-ish red! People around me must be freaking colorblind if they can't even notice that!

"Need me to spell it out for ya, you fire-breathing idiot?!" Gray yelled as he butted his head against mine.

"No, I don't!" I growled as I pushed back. "Besides, you really couldn't afford to lose any more brain cells trying to figure it out anyway!"

"I dare you to say that again!"

"You wanna go, you erotic icicle?!"

"I'll take whatever you've got, slanty-eyes!"

Yeah, this black-haired, bare-chested guy I was screaming at? His name's Gray, he's an ice wizard, and he likes taking his clothes off for some weird reason. He doesn't even notice it sometimes. (Remember how I said I sometimes snag his underwear without him knowing? Yeah, you know why now.) Oh, and for the record, I'm a way stronger wizard than him. Fire trumps ice any day of the week, baby! He's just too stubborn to admit it, but if you dare tell him I said that, I'll hunt you down and deep-fry your butt when you're not looking!

Lucy stepped in at that point and shoved the two of us apart. If I'd been any angrier than I was then, I wouldn't have realized that she had some major guts butting into one of our bouts because she usually suffered severe repercussions as a result. (And half the time, we don't even realize it's happened until afterwards.) But hey, we've been buddies for a long time; she's used to that stuff. Happy keeps telling me that she probably just gave up on stopping us a long time ago, but what does that verbose feline know, anyway? For crying out loud, he's a talking cat with wings.

Speaking of which, where was that cat, anyway?

"Listen up, you two," she ordered with her hands on her hips and wearing that classic glare that she picked up from Erza (she's another friend of ours, but…I'm not entirely sure you want to meet her), "if you're gonna beat each other to a bloody pulp, then you can do it some other time! We've got more important things to do right now, remember? Like trying to shut down this dark guild that we're being paid to do?! Stop screwing around just because Erza isn't here right now, you got that?!"

I started and stared around at the people we were supposed to be beating up staring at our little scene with confused expressions. Everything was in shambles; tables were burning and broken, the walls were frozen, and there were smoking holes in the floor.

Oh, yeah; that was what I was supposed to be doing! I completely forgot. I will admit that forgetting things is…kind of my schtick.

Yeah. Schtick. I do mean _exactly_ what that word means. Go look at a dictionary if you don't believe me.

"All right, fine!" I huffed, crossing my arms. "I guess I can kick his butt later. Gotta take these clowns out first."

Even with Lucy glowering at us, Gray wasn't about to let this go so easily. "Hold up a second; my blood's still boiling! If we can't duke it out right now, let's at least have a contest to see who beats up more thugs!"

A grin spread across my face at the prospect as I cracked my knuckles, fire flickering from my fingers. "Sounds interesting! Let's set some conditions up, then! The loser has to play gofer for the victor for a week! That cool with ya?"

The streaker smirked. "Fine by me. I can't wait to see the look on your face once we're done here!"

Lucy just palmed her face and moaned something that sounded like, "Fine, do whatever; just put some clothes on first, Gray" as we charged at the mob of dark wizards. I wasn't too sure; I was a bit busy punching people at the moment to really care. I wasn't about to let that icy freak beat me!

I frowned in annoyance as another crowd of lackeys crowded once I'd mowed down the first. Geez, these guys were dropping like flies, but they just kept on coming. They kept popping back up like annoying weeds!

Alright, time for Plan B.

"Heh, you guys are _really_ asking for it now!" I proclaimed with glee as I began charging up another shot. "I'll be making sure that none of you are left standing after this one!"

"You can't keep this up forever!" one of them shouted as he charged at me with fire flickering in his hands.

"Yeah, there's no way you'll beat all of us!" another one howled, brandishing a steel spear. "We'll take you down by sheer numbers!"

"Go ahead and try!" I goaded enthusiastically with the crook of a finger. "It doesn't matter how many of you come at me at once – you're all going down!"

The first goon roared and a flare of crimson flame shot in my direction like a laser. The range was actually pretty wide; it took up about a third of the whole room. I could only hope that Lucy and everyone else wouldn't be caught in the blast once it connected.

All at once the torrent of fire completely surrounded my entire body, but I felt no pain. I grinned at the possibilities with which I could take those guys out now that I had these flames at my disposal.

Being a Fire Dragon Slayer comes in handy sometimes. Kind of like now.

I opened my mouth and sucked as much of the fire as I could. With each passing second, I felt increasingly invigorated and power began welling up inside of me. This fire tasted really gross, though – man, that guy was a lame excuse for a fire wizard. The energy I got from it wasn't as nearly as much as what I got from even ordinary fire.

Oh right, did I ever tell you that I could eat fire? No? Heh, it comes with the title. And before you ask – yes, it does fill me up; and no, I won't tell you what it tastes like. I don't want you trying a stunt like that; you'll only kill yourself.

"Whew," I remarked as wiped my chin after swallowing the last of the flames. "With this disgusting fire, I can't believe you actually made it as a fire wizard. You're actually even worse than that Dory guy I fought once!"

Sorry, I can't remember that guy's real name. Sue me.

That same dude looked absolutely freaked out after seeing me eat his fire, and I couldn't help but laugh at his expression. That reaction got me every time! I'm not ashamed to say that I love doing that to show up any other fire wizard who stood in my way, and for real – I love how they panic once they realize that their attacks don't affect me at all.

Say what you will about me; it's still an effective way to catch them off-guard. Plus it's funny!

"Well, I shouldn't complain, huh?" I laughed as I enveloped both my hands in flame. "After all, you did give me a meal before I got to kick your butt! Thanks for the grub, buddy; I've got a major fire in my belly thanks to you!"

I then rushed at the crowd of thugs before they could even so much as make a peep. The fire in my hands extended into wide whips of flame as I drew near them, and I swung them at the enemy as I rushed through their ranks shouting, "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Screaming blackened bodies flew everywhere in the wake of the explosion, and I turned around to observe my handiwork when I realized (with minimal chagrin) that I tore half the place down.

And Lucy chose that moment to lecture me about it. "Geez, Natsu; can't you do anything without blowing up the buildings?" she scolded me as she approached. "I always end up not being able to pay my rent on time because of you destroying everything you touch! I thought I'd have it easier this time since Erza's away on a different mission right now on behalf of the Master, but I should've known that was too good to be true…"

"So what; least I got the job done," I said off-handedly with a shrug.

"But now we're not gonna get paid because we have to foot the repair bill with the reward money for everything you blew up!"

"We can just go on another job if you need the money so badly."

"It's not that simple with you around!"

"She's right, you know," Gray agreed out of nowhere. He still hadn't put a shirt on yet…or pants, for that matter. "You really gotta think about the collateral damage, you bonehead."

I scoffed and turned my back to him. "Like you have any room to talk. You destroyed the half that I missed!"

I wasn't even lying. The half of the place that wasn't charred with soot was completely decorated with icicles sticking out of the rubble and ice cubes littering the floor. Yeah, this guy had some nerve lecturing me when he couldn't even follow his own stupid advice. Not to mention the fact that he just couldn't keep his clothes on for longer than five minutes.

But besides that, I still felt like I was forgetting about something…

Then Gray butted into my thoughts again. I get the sneaking suspicion that he does that on purpose.

"Shut up, you pyro! You're not in any position to lecture me!" he snarled.

I turned on him lividly. "You're just upset because I downed more bad guys than you, huh?! Afraid to play the gofer boy?"

"What does that have to do with anything?! I don't exactly see you acting happy about it anyway!"

"Who says I have to act happy over beating someone like you? You're not worth the trouble!"

"GUYS!" Lucy shouted at last, making the both of us reel in terror. "Seriously, cut that out! And besides, Happy's missing!"

I blanched. Shoot, so that was what I forgot! "He's missing?!" I cried in shock. "He must've gotten separated from us in the middle of that mess!" I grabbed a fistful of hair in each hand and moaned, "Ohh, what am I gonna do?! He's not gonna talk to me for weeks for abandoning him like that! This is all your fault, Gray!"

"Why the heck is it my fault?!" he retorted.

Lucy grabbed my collar and held me in place so I couldn't take off on my own. "Listen, if you keep panicking like that, you're never going to find him. Calm down and follow your nose, okay?"

I struggled some more, trying to break free as she was talking, but it was no good. Our little blondie was stronger than she looked.

"Okay, I will!" I surrendered hastily as I continued trying to fight free. "I would've done that anyway! Can you let me go now? I gotta find Happy!"

"Not until you relax!" She yanked on my collar for good measure, making me choke.

"C-can't…breathe…" I gagged. "Okay…I'm calm now – let me go, Lucy –!"

She finally let me go, and I made a break for it the minute her fingers left the fabric. I dashed into the closest hallway, following my nose. Being a Dragon Slayer, I had a good nose – all my senses were sharper in general, actually. It really comes in handy whenever I'm looking for someone, like now.

"HAPPY!" I screamed through the corridors. "WHERE ARE YA, BUDDY?! HAPPY!"

"Natsu, wait for us!" Lucy's voice echoed behind me somewhere, but I didn't turn around to check. "Slow down!"

"Don't just take off like that, you idiot!" Gray this time. "You trying to get yourself killed?!"

Like hell that was going to happen. There was no way I was gonna die like that. I'd promised that I'd never let myself get killed.

I kept following that familiar scent down the same corridor. I was so fixated on finding Happy that I failed to realize something important until I'd run for about another minute.

The smell wasn't deviating. It just kept going straight ahead. And it wasn't being obstructed by any other scent, which should've been the norm – because if he'd been kidnapped, there would be at least one more scent lingering around his, but there was none. There was something weird going on…it was almost like Happy had come down this way on purpose.

What the heck was going on?!

* * *

Don't you just hate it when you get worried sick about someone, but then realize that they're not in any real danger and feel really stupid afterwards? In this case, both sides can be equally guilty of being complete idiots.

But this was mostly Happy's fault.

"You stupid cat! What the deal; making me worry like that?!" I yelled furiously. "We thought something bad happened to you!"

We found him at the large storage room where those thugs kept their stolen goods, sitting in one corner and nibbling on a piece of salmon. That infuriating feline now circled my head just out of my reach so I couldn't reach him. Rgh, it was frustrating how he had wings! He wouldn't let me grab him and swing him around like a lasso for making us panic!

"I keep telling you, Natsu!" Happy tried to explain in his high-pitched voice. "I was only following something here! The smell was strange!"

I growled in annoyance as I narrowly missed grabbing him again. "Yeah, right. I didn't smell anything other than your fishy breath while looking for you!"

Happy dove behind Lucy and peeked over her right shoulder, effectively turning her into a shield. "Just hear me out for a minute, okay?" he pleaded. "I wasn't trying to worry you guys, honest! I really did smell something weird, so I came this way to check it out! But as soon as I got in this room, the smell wasn't here anymore!"

"And then you decided to just sit here eating fish?!" I demanded while balling my fists. "Look, if you didn't find anything, you should've just come straight back to us!"

Happy stuck his head out farther. "I tried!" he said indignantly. "But the door just closed on me all of a sudden, and I couldn't get out!"

That stopped me for a minute. That shouldn't have happened, since every member of this dark guild was at the front lobby of the building trying to chase us out. Was it some sort of magic trap?

"Seriously, Happy?" Lucy asked urgently. "Was someone at the door when it closed on you? Did you hear anything like a lock clicking?"

Happy shook his little blue head and raised a paw. "There wasn't anyone there! I swear it on the sack of salmon in my secret stash!"

"That's weird," Gray mused, his fingers rubbing his chin. "Though I guess we should've expected something like that in a dark wizarding guild. No thief would be stupid enough to leave their treasure unguarded. Happy must've just triggered their security system."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Lucy agreed. "It's only natural for a thief to not want any of their stolen goods get taken back."

My arms were crossed during this little discussion. I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying, but something didn't make sense. A magic trap to keep intruders from escaping with their treasure was definitely a good reason for this happening. But there was something else about this situation that just couldn't be right.

"Hold on, you guys," I said at last, prompting them to look at me in surprise. Didn't blame them, really – I hardly ever had any helpful input in serious conversations. "Something doesn't feel right about this whole situation."

"What're you talking about?" Gray asked half-heartedly. "This better not be something stupid."

I felt a tic going in my forehead at that insinuation, but I decided it would be better to try and kick his butt later. "Shut up; I'm serious! This is important!"

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Lucy assured me while throwing a dirty look in Gray's direction. "So, what's wrong, Natsu?"

"Well, I guess it's just bothering me personally," I began, scratching my spikes as I spoke, "but what about that weird smell Happy mentioned earlier? He said he followed it here, didn't he? And I didn't smell anything funny while on the way here. Don't you think that's at least a little bit odd?"

The three of them then stared at me with completely dumbstruck and flabbergasted expressions. This usually didn't bother me, but the fact that they were doing it in unison was kind of unnerving.

"Wh-what?" I spluttered self-consciously. "I'm just saying!"

"Natsu…" Gray wouldn't wipe that weird expression off his face as he continued while pointing a shaking finger in my direction, "Natsu actually said something…_reasonable_ for once!"

"This is a moment for the history books!" Happy added with his paws over his mouth. "The world just turned upside down!"

Lucy was trying to straighten her expression as she berated the two of them with, "Geez, just how much do you guys have to belittle him, huh?"

I felt my face grow hot (though not by much; my body was naturally hotter than a normal person's for obvious reasons). "Are you guys calling me stupid?! I think you are!"

"No, of course not!" Lucy assured me quickly. "We just didn't consider that observation you made. No offense was meant. Right, you guys?" she added as she turned to Gray and Happy.

Gray crossed his arms and smirked at me. "Impressive for an impulsive goofball like him."

"Aw, shut up, stupid snow cone," I grunted, turning away with a pout.

"Well, anyway…" Lucy turned serious again. "Natsu does have a good point. Happy said that he followed a strange scent here, but it vanished the second he entered this room. And considering the fact that Natsu has a really good nose and he didn't notice it at all does say something."

"That's true," Gray said thoughtfully. "Do you guys remember what the client said about this job when we took it? I don't remember any strange happenings being mentioned in that conversation."

I didn't remember anything weird happening when we met the client, either. Then again, I probably hadn't even paid attention. I'd just shot out of the house once the words "shut down this dark guild" had popped up in the conversation. Don't blame me; I do love me a good brawl.

"Well, the client said something along the lines of, 'The official job is to shut down this dark guild, but I would like you to ask you a personal favor – You must retrieve a certain bracelet those thugs stole from me'…" Lucy mused. "Something along those lines."

I was confused. "Wait a minute. A retrieval request?"

Gray sighed irritably. "You'd know that if you didn't charge out of the place before the client finished explaining the job, you moron."

As much as that ticked me off, I had no proper defense for that. A derisive "Hmph" was all I could manage in retaliation.

"If that's really the case, then that bracelet should be somewhere in this room, right?" Lucy went on. "Maybe that's the weird smell Happy picked up. It's probably magical, too; that might be why the smell vanished. It might be something the client did so that it'd be easy to find if it got lost."

"But why by smell?" I asked. "If it was tryin' to get someone to find it, then wouldn't it be smarter for it to get a person to find it by seeing or hearing it instead? What if some random animal ran off with it?"

"Natsu, you're starting to scare me," Happy said nervously over Lucy's shoulder.

"What?" I was confused. "How? I'm not doing anything to scare you."

"You're thinking too much," he explained with watery eyes. "This isn't like you, Natsu. What happened to you?"

I felt another tic going in my forehead at that remark. "What; are you calling me stupid now?!"

"No, you just do better when you're not thinking! And you're good at not thinking, so stop thinking!"

"Make up your mind!"

"I did! I told you to stop thinking!"

Lucy sighed and reached over to snatch Happy out of the air. "What am I, your babysitter? Why can't you guys behave for just five seconds?"

I huffed in indignation and turned away with my arms crossed. "Well, Happy was the one who started it," I grumbled.

"Forget about that for now." Gray out of nowhere. Seriously, how does he do that? "Let's just find this stupid bracelet and get outta here."

I hated to admit it, but Gray was right. We still had a job to finish, and standing here arguing wasn't doing anything to help us. Not to mention, I was really starting to not like the vibe of this place. I wanted out of here. There was a cold feeling creeping up in my chest, and I can't tell you how uncomfortable that is for somebody like me. It's like your body gets dizzy and nauseous all on its own even though your head feels fine. It was as if there was an ethereal rope of ice squirming around in the chambers of my heart. It felt…disgusting.

And no, I'm not talking about my motion sickness. That's something totally different!

"Alright, I guess we oughta," I relented, trying to ignore the sick feeling. "Let's get this over with. There's something about this room…I'm not feeling too good."

My friends just seemed to notice that I wasn't looking too great.

"What's the matter, Natsu?" Happy asked from his place in Lucy's grip. "Are you feeling okay?"

"You do look kind of pale…" Lucy noted nervously. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head and massaged my chest area gingerly. "I dunno, but it feels gross. My chest just feels odd, is all." Just then a thought struck me. "Wait a sec. You guys don't feel it?"

"Feel what?" Gray crossed his arms with a skeptical expression. "You're not pulling our legs, are you?"

"Yeah," Lucy murmured, fear leaking into her voice as she held Happy close to her chest. "I don't feel sick or anything, though…I'm kind of scared now."

"What's going on…?" Happy wondered.

That was what I wanted to know. Why was I the only one feeling sick? That wasn't right…this couldn't be right…all of us could feel disturbance in magic energy. Why was it only me who felt it?

"Maybe we should retreat for now," Lucy suggested, looking to all of us in turn. "I mean, we can't really do much if Natsu's not feeling well, right?"

"No way," I said sharply, shooting her down immediately. "We need to finish the job we came to do! We can't just leave like a bunch of cowards just 'cause I feel funny! That'll make Fairy Tail look bad!"

"Reputation aside, you really should sit down and rest somewhere, Natsu," Happy cut in, and he wasn't his usual plucky self this time. I must've looked pretty bad if that was the case. "You really do look sick. We can just sit outside for a little bit and come back in once you feel better if you want."

"But that's the same thing as running away!" I protested.

"Come on, Natsu! We're worried about you!" Lucy snapped. "Don't blow us off like this!"

That one stung. As in, literally _stung_. There was a sudden spark of pain in my heart that made me wince and double over despite myself. It was brief, but damn it all if it didn't hurt like crazy.

I coughed in surprise as I grasped my chest. "What the –"

The cold feeling in my chest grew, and the squirming intensified. Something was sloshing my blood around in there and making me feel sick. And it felt _solid_…like something really did find its way into my heart, and was now trying to fight its way out.

That pain…was like nothing I'd ever felt before.

"Natsu!" I heard Gray shout in alarm. "What's going on?! Stand up!"

What? Was I back on the ground now? When did that happen?

"Can you hear me? Say something!" That was Lucy. I was sure of it. But why did she sound so far away? And why did she sound like she was terrified?

What was this strange sensation? Nothing made sense. Nothing. I couldn't feel anything, grasp anything. Everything escaped me…and I felt so hollow, so blank…so empty.

Except for the pain. This terrible, excruciating, awful pain…

The pain wouldn't escape. It stayed to torture me.

And I hated it.

The moment I acknowledged it, I began regaining feeling. It wasn't instantaneous. It kept growing, slowly but surely. I could feel myself again. My hands, my arms, my shoulders…my whole body was curled in on itself.

That's right; I remember now. I had a body. That's where the pain was coming from. I had to make this pain go away. I wanted it to go away. But…how could I do that?

_**If you don't like something, destroy it.**_

What was that? That wasn't me, right? Did I think that just now? Who was that? It sounded like me, but at the same time…it wasn't me.

_Who are you?_

_**Oh, no one important. That aside, what's the matter, tough guy? Isn't destroying things what you do best?**_

Destroying things…yeah, I _was_ good at that. I did that a lot…but people didn't like when I broke things.

_Yeah…but no one likes it when I break things._

_**True enough. But you've got a reason to destroy this time, and this won't hurt anybody. **_

_Really?_

_**Of course. Your whole body hurts now, doesn't it?**_

I contemplated that. _Well…yeah. It does hurt. It hurts a lot._

_**The answer should be simple then. You always destroyed things you didn't like. That's practically your mantra.**_

_It is? That doesn't sound like me._

_**Oh, really? Who **__**are**__** you, exactly? What do you **__**really**__** sound like? Have any idea?**_

I didn't know. _Um…_

_**Hmm…well, I guess that doesn't really matter right now. Your body's hurting you. Destroy your body. Then, you'll be free from the pain for good.**_

I frowned, and for a moment I was surprised. That's right; I had a face, too. How could I have forgotten that?

Destroy my body…doing that would make the pain go away?

…

Hold on…something about that was wrong…

_That…that can't be right. If I do that, won't I die?_

My life was tethered to my body. If I destroyed my body, then I would die. I knew that even in this state.

_**With my help? Please. If I'm there, you won't have to worry about dying. I can't die.**_

_What?_

_**Exactly what I said. If you let me out, then I can make it so you can't die. That's all.**_

_Let you out? Out of where?_

_**Oh, I'm sure you've been feeling it. I'm inside your heart.**_

_You are?_ More feeling returned. I managed to get a handle on myself._So that was you? Dude, that was real gross; you know that? What's the big idea?_

_**Don't be such a wuss. That was just a knock on the door. I was trying to get your attention.**_

_Uh-huh. How long have you been in there, anyway? I never noticed anything until now!_

_**Never mind that. So, what d'you say? Care to lend a hand to a friend?**_

_I don't remember __ever__ having somebody like you for a friend._

_**Hey, now; that's cold. We're as good as friends now, right? We're practically the same guy. C'mon, hear me out.**_

_Knock it off; you're annoying. And weren't __you__ the offering __me__ help a minute ago?_

…_**Ugh, you're impossible. Guess it was a bit too soon. I can't believe this is the other me…**_

_What? What are you talking about?_

_**Don't **__**worry your little head over it. Well, I guess I'll leave you alone for now, take another crack at it at a better time.**_

_Hold on! What the heck are you talking about? You didn't answer my questions! Why now? Why me? And who the heck are you?!_

_**Now, now; don't get ahead of yourself. All the answers will come in time…though I don't think you'll like it when it does. You'll be really upset. Upset enough to probably…oh, I don't know…kill your friends.**_

_What?! Yeah right; as if that'll ever happen! I'd never hurt my friends!_

_**I assure you…it will. See ya around, Natsu. Say hi to Jellal for me if you see him…ah, there's one more thing I should tell you before I hit the road, so to speak.**_

_Better be a straight answer, buddy._

_**Ohh, **__**now**__** you decide to get all friendly?**_

_I wasn't being friendly!_

_**Pipe down there, partner. Can't take sarcasm to the face, can ya?**_

_Tch, whatever. So anyway, you were saying?_

_**Oh, right. Well, if you tell any of your precious little friends about our little chat…they'll be sorry. And you worst of all. Keep this conversation within the confines of your mind if you don't want to hurt your friends, yeah?**_

_You wouldn't dare._

_**I definitely would…since I know you won't. Just a warning. Now wake up already.**_

_Wake up? What're you –_

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted desperately. "C'mon, wake up!"

I gasped as my eyes snapped open. I _had_ been asleep, weirdly enough. I couldn't remember when that had happened.

My friends' faces were right above me, their expressions ranging from distraught to relieved.

"NATSU!" Happy tackle-hugged my face the minute my eyes opened. Not how I wanted to be greeted.

"Ow, what the –" I pulled him off my face and held him up. "Happy?"

"You're okay!" he wailed with tears streaking down his little blue face as he struggled to hug my face again. "We were worried! I was worried! I'm so glad you're okay!"

"What just…" I sat up with a bit of difficulty thanks to Happy being in my right hand. "What happened?"

"No idea," Gray put in. He sounded pretty shaken up, too, though he was doing his best to hide it. "You just collapsed out of nowhere. We've been trying to wake you up for the past couple hours. Why'd you have to go and scare us like that, you idiot?"

A shock went through me at that, and I stared down at the blanket, for once ignoring Gray's biting remarks. That conversation had taken up a whole lot more time than I realized. And right before that…I couldn't remember too well. All I knew was that …I didn't feel right. I mean, I was still me, but it felt like I was missing something important from myself, an essential part of me…if that makes any sense.

I also just noticed that we weren't inside the storage room of that dark guild anymore. The walls weren't gray; they were yellow now.

"Wait, where are we, anyway?" I asked, looking around.

"We're at my house," Lucy answered me. "It was closest." She looked nervous again. "So…are you feeling okay? What happened to you?"

I definitely did _not_ feel okay. And I wanted to tell them so – and everything about what had happened if only to have some sort of answer – but I couldn't take any chances. If that weirdo in my head had been telling the truth, if I squealed on them about our chat, my friends would be in trouble.

Without meaning to, I raised my hand up to my chest again, right above my heart. The writhing pain wasn't there anymore.

Happy, who had been sitting on my lap when I'd accidentally dropped him, looked confused. "Is something wrong, Natsu?" he asked me quietly.

I stared out the bedside window. The sky was dyed in mixtures of orange and red thanks to the setting sun. It had gotten pretty late while I'd been out.

"No…I'm fine," I lied through my teeth, lowering my arm. "What happened to the mission? Did you guys find the bracelet?"

Judging from the looks that they gave me then, I could only assume that they hadn't. I wasn't as irritated as I probably should've been (I hate backing out on jobs), but this time around, I didn't really have the wherewithal to call them out on it.

"So that's how it is, huh?" I muttered, half to myself. "Okay then."

I lifted the blankets off of me and got out of bed, surprising everyone.

"Natsu, you should be resting right now," Lucy implored me, concern welled up in her brown eyes. "You're welcome to stay the night if you want…"

I shook her head even as she was talking, and she trailed off.

"What happened to the prissy princess who'd kick me out at a second's notice, huh?" I half-teased. The smile on my face right now felt fake, even to me. "Don't worry about it; I'm just fine! Thanks for the help, but I'm going home now. Get plenty of rest yourselves, okay?"

"Natsu…"

"Happy," I called as I picked up my travel pack that had been next to the bed and walked to her door. "Let's go, buddy. We're going home."

"A-aye." He flew over to my side as I left the building and walked in the direction of home.

As I trudged along the street next to the river that ran through our small town of Magnolia, I couldn't get the strange words that the voice inside my head had said to me _out_ of my head.

_Hey, now; that's cold. We're as good as friends now, right? We're practically the same guy. C'mon, hear me out._

_Guess it was a bit too soon. I can't believe this is the other me…_

_All the answers will come in time…though I don't think you'll like it when it does. You'll be really upset._

_Upset enough to probably…oh, I don't know…kill your friends._

_Kill your friends._

Kill.

I stopped in my tracks.

Happy turned around to check on me. "Natsu?"

I balled my fists so hard my knuckles turned white. There was no way that could happen, right? There was nothing in all of Earth Land that could get me to kill my friends. The stupid voice in my head had just lied to me in order to mess with my head; that was all.

But…why did I feel so scared? Fear wasn't a bad thing. Gildarts had taught me that. Being scared was a good thing, because that way you could pinpoint your weaknesses and try to overcome them.

This felt different. I knew I wasn't scared of the voice in my head, or any of my friends, even though I'd just run from them. I tried to ascertain the source of this apprehension, but I couldn't think of anything that felt right…

"Natsu?"

I started and looked to Happy, who was floating in front of me, the confused expression mixing in with the ever-present concern.

"S-sorry about that, Happy," I apologized. "I guess I was distracted…"

I could tell by the look on my furry feline friend's face that he could tell I was hiding something. I shouldn't have been surprised. I'd raised him from an egg, after all. We knew each other inside out.

"Hey, Natsu," he began, a solemn look on his face, "did something happen while you were asleep? Like a bad dream or something? 'Cause it looked like you were having a nightmare the whole time to me…"

I wanted to hit myself for making it look so obvious, because, well…he was right. Sort of. It _did_ happen to me while I'd been asleep…it hadn't exactly been a dream, but it had definitely been a nightmare in some sense of the term.

"Yeah," I managed to say. "It was a bad dream, all right."

"What was it about? You can talk to me about it if it makes you feel better."

My heart clenched in terror at his suggestion, and the memory of the disgusting feeling of the cold something writhing inside my heart refreshed itself in my subconscious.

_Keep this conversation within the confines of your mind if you don't want to hurt your friends._

"Natsu?" Happy was sounding seriously worried now, which made the feeling of dread in my gut spike in spades. "Won't you tell me?"

His imploring words were too much. The fear overflowed and I snapped.

"I told you; I'm fine!" I retorted more harshly than I'd meant. "Listen, Happy. I just need time to get over it on my own, okay? Just quit bothering me and go bug someone else!"

I then took off without waiting for an answer.

The farther I ran, the more ashamed I felt. I shouldn't have blown up at my friend and left him behind. I wanted to go back and apologize, but my legs wouldn't listen when I told them to stop and turn right back around.

They just kept on pushing me forward, farther away from Happy, farther away from Lucy and Gray and everybody else in Fairy Tail. It wasn't until I got to the front steps of my low stone house, my face streaked with both my sweat and my tears, that I figured out why I hadn't been able to stop.

I was scared of admitting that that voice could be right. I was scared of hurting my friends if I did the wrong thing. I was scared…of myself.

* * *

_Yeesh…Natsu was a tougher character to write than I realized. He's definitely a character type that's out of my comfort zone. Then again, it was still super fun! I hope it was up to snuff…well, it probably wasn't since this is my first time writing him…heck, this is my first time writing a Fairy Tail fic in the first place._

_And yes, despite the cliffhanger ending, this _is_ still technically a oneshot. If you wanna know what happens next, then you know what to do, right?_

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Like I said, I may continue this oneshot if I get enough positive feedback for it! Thanks for reading, have an awesome day, and it's great to be back!_


	2. Insult to Injury

_**(FYI: Just so you know, the characters are in their post-time skip attire. I typically don't stick any fanfic setting in the middle of the canon plot of a fandom; it's a pain in the neck trying to make it work with the official storyline. So if you want/don't know, you can look up their post-time skip appearance to better visualize this story.)**_

_Man, how could I say no to you guys after all your support? Thanks to you, this is now a full-fledged story, and the first official chapter is now up! Thank you all for your reviews, and I hope you like what I have cooked up for you here!_

_Oh, and WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. Yeah, just warning ya._

_This here is my first attempt at Lucy. I hope it satisfies! Please forgive me for this being so short (especially after that prologue…)!_

**Ch. 1: Insult to Injury**

To say that there was something wrong with Natsu was an understatement.

I mean, sure, he's had a lot to deal with ever since I first joined the guild, but I'd never seen him like this before – not even when it came to Lisanna way back when we didn't realize that she'd never been dead. Whenever a problem came up, he'd usually take it head on – and beat it up if it was possible. He never doubted himself, not even once, and looked at everything with his simple yet optimistic nature.

But ever since we came back from that failed job, he'd been acting strange – quiet and distant, like he had a lot on his mind or something. I wondered if it had something to do with the way he'd just passed out on us while we were still in the building – he'd mentioned a gross feeling in his chest a couple minutes before he suddenly collapsed, and he'd looked like he was having some sort of nightmare. Maybe something in that nightmare was what was making him act so strangely? I was so confused.

It's been three days since then, and it didn't look like he was improving. Just the day before he stopped coming out on jobs with us, saying that he "had other stuff to do", and he still wouldn't explain anything. I hadn't seen Happy with him for that entire time, either, and I was beginning to worry that maybe the cat ran away…or Natsu chased him off or abandoned him somewhere. Considering his strange behavior now, it wasn't too big of a stretch. I still didn't get why Natsu was acting this way. It made no sense to me.

And today, he was sitting off at a far table by himself, staring into space. A cup of fire sat in front of him untouched. None of us had the nerve to go and talk to him yet – not even Erza.

Erza Scarlet was the strongest female wizard in all of Fairy Tail, and she was really pretty too – her long hair was as beautiful as her name described. She constantly wore armor as her regular outfit, and she was as tough and strict as they came. Even Natsu and Gray, the guild's top two troublemakers and two of our most powerful wizards, were afraid of her.

She got the story of the happenings of the previous days from us once she came back from her solo S-class quest the day after we failed in our mission. She insisted on talking to Natsu in private, probably to beat some answers out of him (she's got some strange questioning methods, to be sure), but from what I could tell a bit after that, she hadn't succeeded – which astounded me, to be frank. Practically everyone in the guild was subservient to her in some way, shape, or form, especially Natsu and Gray. I didn't know what had happened between the two in their private discussion, and Erza refused to let on, but she did look a bit shaken up afterwards.

Even Gray had tried to get Natsu to come out of his shell by throwing all kinds of insults his way and trying to provoke him by attacking him on a couple occasions, but not even that worked. The hothead who used to always be ready for a fight either brushed him off or ignored him completely. One time Gray made to punch him in the face, Natsu just dodged it like it was nothing and just continued to go on his way. The second time he tried, Natsu had caught his fist and thrown him across the guild hall before walking out on us without so much as a word.

In short, Natsu just flat out refused to talk to anyone in the guild for an extended amount of time – not even Master Makarov. The most any of us got out of him was a quick greeting before he managed to escape us.

We couldn't let this go on much longer. If Natsu refused to work with us, we'd lose an invaluable asset to our team and our friend. We had to get him to talk to us somehow, but we had no clue what was wrong so we had no idea what course of action we should actually take.

The only lead we had was the place where all this strangeness started – the dark guild that we'd destroyed. We opted to go back there the first chance we got, but at the moment there was a more pressing matter at hand.

"If Happy was the one who first noticed the smell, we're going to need his help," Erza was saying with a business-like tone. "Not to mention he could be in some sort of danger since Natsu isn't with him. We have to make finding Happy our top priority. Understand?"

Gray and I nodded in confirmation. We would do whatever it took to help find Happy – and somehow get Natsu to talk to us again and tell us everything about what was going on with him.

We had to succeed. For their sake.

* * *

Surprisingly, finding Happy was the easy part.

The place that we decided to look was around Natsu's house. We figured that if Happy had been banned from entering the house for whatever reason, he'd still stick around at the very least because he had nowhere else to go – or maybe he just decided to stay here in order to at least keep an eye on Natsu. So it wouldn't hurt to at least check it out.

As for me, I've only been here once before. Natsu and Happy lived in a one-story stone-brick house in a lightly-forested area with a winding path leading to the wooden front door. A sign etched with their names stood in front of the house in case anyone wanted to find them. All in all, a charming place…at least until you looked inside.

Long story short: it is a glorified garbage can. Sorry, I really don't want to think about the details right now. All I know is that it's practically a miracle how those two never got sick from their horrible sanitation habits.

The three of us met in from of the house. As we did, there was something that we noticed.

"It's really quiet," I noted, looking around. "And there doesn't seem to be anybody here…"

"That's weird," Gray muttered as he scratched his head. "Natsu left the guild before we did, right? He should be here of all places if he doesn't want to talk to us, because otherwise he'd be crashing at Lucy's place right now."

"Shut up, Gray," I snapped, feeling a bit flustered. "And besides, that was the first place we checked, and that very fact kind of leaves a sour taste in my mouth, you know!"

"Enough, you two," Erza ordered us in a firm voice. "It may not seem like they're here, but we should take a look around anyway. You never know what we might miss."

Gray waved a hand dismissively. "Alright, alright. Let's get this done."

We split up to search. While Erza and Gray took the left and right of the house, I took the back. If anything, it was much wilder than the front – there was a massive tangle of branches surrounding the property and random patches of dirt in the field of ankle-high grass. Trash littered the property, ranging from food bowls to debris to broken branches. There was also a set of horizontal bars near the back wall of the building that were rusted and dented (presumably from Natsu's overdone workouts, because he was way stronger than he actually looked). But I still couldn't see any sign of life here, either.

I strained my senses as hard as I could. I scanned the area minutely, tried picking up every sound in the surroundings, and felt for anything strange on the ground – anything out of the ordinary would do. I slowly circled the property while avoiding potential hazards, but there was still nothing.

It was now or never.

"Happy!" I called into the tangled mass of trees. "Are you here?! Come on out! It's me, Lucy! Where are you?!"

My voiced echoed throughout the area, but I still couldn't hear anything in response. I hadn't heard anything from Gray or Erza, either…and I sort of doubted that Natsu was around with the way he'd been acting.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling of leaves to my right. I turned on the spot in that direction, tense and alert in case it was an enemy, but as alert as I was, I couldn't brace myself for a blue cat suddenly flying into my chest.

"Lucy!" he wailed as he buried his face into my top. "Thank goodness! I was so lonely!"

Once I got over the shock of having a flying cat tackle-hug me, I raised my hands to support and comfort him. "Well, I'm just glad you're okay," I said soothingly, patting his blue head. "But besides that, what were you doing out here all alone?"

Happy sniffled, his tail drooping. "I was…I was waiting for Natsu. I wanted him to come and find me…but he never did. It's been ages…"

I gasped in shock. "Happy," I began, horrified. "Just how long were you –?"

He shook his head. "I don't know," he said miserably. "But it did get dark twice, and I had to sleep under the trees. Natsu never came back."

Two nights…that meant he'd been stuck outside for three days!

"Happy, you could've waited inside the house for him!" I protested. "Why were you just sitting outside like this?"

He didn't answer me, simply curled against my arm with tears streaming from his eyes. Frustration and rage built up inside my chest, and my arms tensed. This wasn't right. No matter what was going on, Natsu cared about Happy like family! Why would he abandon his family like that?! Petty arguments were one thing, but this was crossing the line!

I gritted my teeth. "That idiot," I muttered angrily. "He's going to pay!"

"Lucy…" Happy's oddly pleading voice snapped me out of it. "Don't be hard on him, okay? Please?"

I couldn't believe my ears. "Happy…but he –"

"Natsu would never leave me like that!" Happy insisted sharply as he pulled away and floated defiantly in front of me, making me flinch in surprise. "So that's not him! That's how I _know_ he's not him! Something strange happened to Natsu to make him this way, so don't get mad at him! It's somebody else's fault!"

The minute he finished his rant and I saw Happy's defiant expression, I felt a pang of guilt shoot through me several times over. Of course; there was no way _Natsu_ could be the one abandoning Happy like this. Whatever had made him pass out back at that dark guild – that had to be the real culprit. That strange magic – if I could even call it that – had changed him, turning him into a reclusive, silent, close-mouthed _stranger_.

I lowered my head with a sad smile. "Sorry about that, Happy," I apologized quietly. "I never should've doubted Natsu like that. He'd never do something like this, huh?"

Happy nodded confidently and raised a paw. "Yep, that's right! I'll bet that he's fighting whatever's messing with him as we speak! He'll definitely win!"

"Yeah, you're right!" I agreed enthusiastically. "He'll beat it to a pulp, and Natsu will come back safe and sound!"

"Aye!" Happy piped jovially.

No matter what, whoever or whatever it was, they were going to pay for doing this to our friend and ally. I swore it in the name of our precious guild.

I laughed a bit, and then sighed wearily. "Let's go back and meet with Erza and Gray," I suggested. "They're looking for you right now, too, and we should tell them you're okay."

"Good idea," he agreed.

I took Happy into my arms and walked in the direction of the front of the house. We hadn't gone five steps before I saw that Erza and Gray were running to meet us before we could get back to the front. They must've heard our conversation and come to check things out.

But their expressions weren't what I was expecting. Instead of relief, it was panic, and they had some unexpected company in the form of a little girl with blue hair and a white cat wearing the same expressions – Wendy and Carla! When did they get here?

"Wendy!" I cried out in surprise as they reached us. "And Carla too! What are you doing here?"

Wendy and the others skidded into a halt once they reached us and Wendy exclaimed, "Lucy! Please, you have to come back to the guild right away!"

"Why; did something happen?"

Wendy's eyes began to water. "It – it's Natsu! He came back to the guild hall and officially quit!"

I almost dropped Happy in response, and I managed to stutter, "H-he did _what?!_"

"He's left the guild!" Carla elaborated feverishly. "He even erased his guild mark in front of everyone!"

My hands shook. There was no way that could be true. I mean, acting standoffish and quiet was one thing, but straight-up quitting? What the heck was going on? It was beyond a shadow of a doubt – that definitely couldn't have been Natsu. He'd been in that guild ever since he was little and always fought to near-death protecting it. There was no way he'd abandon us!

"Where is he now?!" I asked desperately.

"Wendy said that he was gone before anyone could follow," Erza said stiffly. Her crossed arms were tense. "Whatever is going on, it can't be good. Let's call off the trip to the dark guild for now. We need to get back quickly and devise some strategy in order to find Natsu and bring him back."

* * *

To our major surprise, Natsu was at the guild when we got back. And apparently, it was the same for the rest of the guild.

"W-wait a minute!" I spluttered in shock. "Wendy, I – I thought that you said that he left the guild!"

Wendy's brown eyes were just as wide as mine. "He did! I – I don't understand what's going on, either!"

Happy simply stood there staring at his old friend. "Natsu…"

Natsu was standing in the middle of our guild hall with his back to us. Every eye in the guild was trained on him. Everyone was giving him a ten-foot berth. I could feel the tension in the air; it was as if everyone here was dying to jump on him, but something huge was holding them back. Even I had to keep my legs in check once I laid eyes on him. Erza had to practically handcuff and restrain Gray to keep him from jumping on Natsu.

"Stay calm, Gray," Erza warned him severely. "Don't do anything stupid."

"STAY CALM?!" he exploded as he continued to fight fruitlessly against Erza's grip. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO STAY CALM?! WHAT THE HECK IS THIS IDIOT THINKING, TRYING TO LEAVE THE GUILD LIKE THIS LIKE IT'LL SOLVE ANYTHING?! HE WON'T TELL US CRAP ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH HIM, AND YOU EXPECT ME TO LET THAT GO SO EASILY?! THAT'S _BULLSHIT!_"

His last word echoed through the hall, but there was no response from anyone. No one disagreed with him on that point. Gray had put it plainly and crudely: what Natsu was doing was unexplainable. Incomprehensible. Unforgivable. His actions were completely off the scale of normality and reality, and therefore unacceptable.

I wasn't concerned with the rest of the guild, though. All my attention was on Natsu's back, and his reaction to Gray's tirade. Was he going to take this rant as another grain of salt? Or was he going to explode and yell back like he usually did?

His response was expected, but upsetting.

"Shut up, Gray," he said flatly without turning around. "You're being annoying."

That remark was enough to burn out Gray's jets. He could do nothing but glower at Natsu without saying a word.

"Natsu," Erza addressed him at last, each syllable testing her restraint, "you have to tell us what's going on. Why are you doing this? What is happening? And most importantly…" Erza balled her fists and glared at his back viciously. "_Why are you leaving Fairy Tail? Why are you leaving your family?! Answer me, Natsu!_"

I flinched despite myself at her tone. I'd never seen her so incensed before, and considering everything that she'd had to endure, that was _definitely_ saying something.

Natsu was unfazed. "Tch, I don't need to tell you guys anything," he responded coldly, his back still to us. "I shouldn't need to. If you really are my family, you should know what's going on, shouldn't you?"

"Don't you remember what the Master told us?! We can't share everything –"

"But we can still share something, right?" Natsu interrupted harshly, prompting Erza to take a step back in surprise. "I know we can't share everything completely. But we still share at least a bit, right? I've already given away everything that I could, and what did you guys pick up?" He lowered his head. "Might as well've been nothing. You guys might've picked up a couple signs, sure. But you didn't do anything to help. You can't expect me to stay quiet about something like that."

"You barely even gave us a chance to figure anything out!" Gray yelled furiously. "We're your friends, not your miracle workers, wise guy! You may as well tell us what's going on right now while you're still talking; it'll save a whole lot of time and energy!"

Natsu didn't reply right away. When I lowered my gaze, I noticed that his clenched fists were shaking.

"If I didn't say anything to you guys before, why would I do it now?" he inquired tersely as I looked back up. His voice was shaking. "Why do you think I'm doing this, anyway? To play guessing games?" He paused to take a deep breath to try and steady his words, but it didn't work very well. His next words were just as breathless as before. He was doing his best to keep an emotion at bay. "You know me, don't you? If I have a problem, I usually tell it to you straight. Why do you think I'm not doing that this time? Huh?"

Erza gritted her teeth in frustration, but didn't say a word. I guess she realized that not even she could intimidate Natsu into spilling anything this time around.

This whole time I was watching my friends trying desperately to prying some answers out of him, but I couldn't bring myself to raise my voice. With the way Natsu was now…I was afraid of what he'd do to me if I argued with him. I didn't want to find out. There was so much I wanted to say, but my nerves kept beating down my resolve and kept me silent and voiceless.

"Well, maybe we'd know that if you told us," Gray spat reproachfully. "So spill it. It doesn't matter what happens; you think we're just gonna sit back and let you leave?"

"No!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly. For the first time in our conversation, I heard distinct panic in his voice. I couldn't see very well because his back was still turned to us, but Natsu raised his hands to his chest as he shivered like he had a sudden case of hypothermia. His fortification had finally cracked under our pressuring. "Stop it. You gotta understand. I can't tell you anything; I can't! I don't wanna hurt you guys; don't make me say it! Please, I'm begging you!"

We were all taken aback by this sudden change of behavior. Erza stepped forward urgently and demanded, "What are you talking about?! Why would you ever hurt us?! You'd never do that! Just tell us what's going on!"

"_I told you; I can't!_" he screamed half in panic and half in frustration as he doubled over still clutching his chest. "Just leave me alone already! Go away!"

Happy looked terrified. "Natsu!" he cried fearfully, moving to rush forward and meet his friend.

"_Don't come near me!_" Natsu bellowed as he turned on his heel to face us. His expression was that of a cornered animal's – it was so feral and wild that it stopped Happy in his tracks.

The little cat looked like he was about to cry. "Natsu…"

"I'm warning you," Natsu wheezed lividly, glaring at us like we were the enemy. The calm façade that he'd been showing earlier was all but nonexistent now. "Stay away from me! You'll be sorry!"

I tried unsuccessfully to swallow the lump in my throat, and I felt my eyes sting with the slightest hint of tears. I couldn't stand seeing my friend like this. This was wrong. All wrong! I couldn't understand! I had to do something, anything to help him…but what could someone weak like me do in this situation?

Before I could get a hold of myself, I felt the unmistakable heat of fire warm up my entire body for an instant before it exploded.

* * *

_I am gonna be real evil with cliffhangers in this story. I can just tell._

…_Anyway._

_Pfft, Lucy sounds like a freaking teleprompter here. Bo-ring! I guess it's because I always see her as the smart-sounding one of the group for some reason. Sorry if she was dull to read through; I'm not good with girl characters. Heheh…_

_Anyway, now that Natsu and Lucy are down, I'd like to know which other two characters you guys want to see narrate in this story. I'm only having four narrators in this story maximum ('Cause there are only going to be a few more chapters in this story. Oops! I never did say that this story would be long!), so choose well! I've set up a poll in order to make a decision, so please go and vote! You guys'd be helping a lot! :)_

_Hope you enjoyed!_


	3. Reap What Is Sowed

_Second chapter ho!_

_Okay, I'm sad to say that only two people voted in the poll I mentioned last chapter and it turned out even, so I'm picking out a narrator for myself. And we're gonna stick to three narrators in this story, since it won't be too long (definitely won't get past 15 chapters). So yeah, we're sticking with Natsu, Lucy, and Gray starting here (partly by request, partly for personal interests). I figured you guys wouldn't want to wait too long for an update, so I just did what I had to do. **You guys really need to read my author's notes!** I put them here for a reason, you know!_

_Anyway, let's pick up from the cliffhanger from last chapter! Please enjoy, and I hope I didn't ruin Gray too badly!_

_Oh, and WARNING MORE SPOILERS AHEAD! A whole lot more than the last chapter!_

_(Ah, man; I want to get back to writing Natsu! I have so much planned for him, dang it! DX)_

**Ch. 2: Reap What Is Sowed**

It was official – Natsu had completely lost his mind. He wouldn't have attacked us out of the blue otherwise.

Nothing he'd just said made any sense to me, and it probably didn't register with anyone else, either. This was too drastic a change for his personality; how would we be able to let something like that sink in so quickly?

Okay, so we might have asked him some questions a bit too harshly. I may have flipped my lid yelling at him, and I probably should've held myself in check instead of having Erza hold me back. Seriously, though, could you really blame me? The idiot had to go around acting all secretive and expect us to figure out what was going on with him without giving us any freaking hints. How would anyone go about doing that?

The fire he blew at our faces should've knocked us back and roasted us (in that order, too – his fire has blunt force to it, believe it or not), but the blast never connected with its intended targets. There was a deafening explosion in the middle of the guild hall, and smoke billowed everywhere in its wake. Once it cleared, I saw a huge burning gash right at Lucy's feet – a good twenty-foot long trench. If he weren't acting so off his rocker right now, I would've thought he'd missed on purpose.

But that wasn't what had my attention. What did was the blue-haired man standing in front of the gash with his back to us. His black cloak billowed in the wake of the explosion. It took me a second to figure out who it was, but Erza beat me to it by saying his name first.

"Jellal?!" she exclaimed.

Now that was definitely a shocker. No one ever expected to see this guy again after he'd disappeared after the Grand Magic Games. He was part of an independent guild with two members (formerly three, but I'll get into that some other time) that basically acted as crime fighters by suppressing dark guilds everywhere to atone for past sins (trust me; it's a long story). They were wanderers, mainly, so if we ever ran into them, it was either due to luck, coincidence, or invitation…which made sense, considering the fact that he'd been broken out of prison and was now on the run. It was a risky move for him to show up at our guild hall alone.

I didn't know what to count this visit as, though. And he was all by himself, which was also kind of weird.

"Erza," Jellal began, his back still turned to us. "And the rest of Fairy Tail…I apologize for dropping in unannounced." He turned his gaze to Natsu, who was now crouched in a defensive position. "I just happened to feel a certain disturbance while I was in the area. I never would've guessed that it would be Natsu."

"So – so something strange really is happening to Natsu?!" Lucy demanded desperately. "Do you know what it is? Can you please tell us? He won't say a word about it!"

Jellal didn't reply for a minute. He just continued staring at Natsu with a strange expression – he looked kind of…angry. A natural reaction, maybe, but there was something about the way his eyes looked that told a different story.

"I'll explain in good time," he promised as he looked back at us briefly. He returned his attention to Natsu, who hadn't moved from his previous spot. "I just need to do something first."

"Wh-what are you going to do?" Wendy asked fearfully. She could probably tell that things were about to get ugly. I could tell from everyone else's expressions that they could see the same thing as she did.

"Don't worry," he assured us. "I'll do my best to avoid permanent damage."

His tone implied that he intended to subdue Natsu – and hurt him if necessary. Under different circumstances, I would've charged the guy for threatening to attack one of our fellow guild member (as annoying as this pink freak was, he was still part of the family), but I silently agreed that it needed to be done. We wouldn't be able to relax if Natsu suddenly took off on us again or blew up worse than he did a couple minutes ago.

"Natsu," he called, his voice firm enough to catch Natsu's attention. "Try and calm down. No one here is your enemy."

Natsu just glared at Jellal uncomprehendingly. "Jellal…you…"

"You want help desperately," Jellal continued in that same firm voice, "and I understand that, but we won't be able to aid you in anyway if you insist on separating yourself from the guild. It would be no different from running away. You know yourself that this isn't normally the way you do things."

"Yeah, so what?" Natsu retaliated in a guttural snarl, sliding into a fighting stance and backing away slowly. "It's only because I have no other option!"

"Yes, you do," Jellal countered. "You just haven't looked hard enough for an alternate solution." He then shot Natsu a harsh look. "This power that is tying you down is hampering your instincts! I know you can overcome this, Natsu! You are the person I least expected to succumb to something like this!"

I let in a huge breath once I realized what I was hearing – Jellal knew more about Natsu's problem than we did, and all we'd told him was that he hadn't been himself. Did he know something about this that we didn't?

"You're lying!" Natsu yelled. "There isn't any other solution! There can't be! I don't care how much crap you've been through; how would you know anything about this?!"

"Natsu!" Erza cut in sharply, no doubt prepared to lay down a retort on him, but Jellal waved a hand to calm her down.

"He is not acting like himself," Jellal said knowingly. "I know all too well. Don't berate him for something that isn't his fault."

"So you _do_ know something," I reasoned darkly. "That's how you knew so much before we could so much as explain to you what was going on. You've had experience with this, haven't you?"

He nodded. "That's right."

"So you're saying…you know how to fix this?"

"I wouldn't take that statement so far, but I do know what –"

"You can fix this?!"

Jellal froze mid-sentence at Natsu's interruption. It was understandable, since Natsu's countenance had abruptly done a one-eighty and he'd rushed in and grabbed his shoulders before he could finish talking.

"You know about what's happening with me, don't you?" he asked desperately. "Everything? You can help me, right?! Please, you've got to do something to help!" His grip tightened on Jellal's shoulders as his whole body shook. "I don't want to hurt anyone…I – I can't keep going like this; it'll kill me! I don't want to die; I don't want to kill anybody, either!" His expression was wild again, but in a different way – he was frantic now, grasping at any kind of chance he might have. Tears were practically pouring down his face as he delivered his choked plea. "Please, Jellal…you're the only one who can…you've gotta help me…please…!"

Now, don't blame me or anyone else for being freaked out at seeing Natsu like this. This was a side of him that no one had seen before as far as I knew, and it was just so _not_ him that we had no idea how to react to this. We were looking at a complete stranger. He was babbling about how he didn't want to hurt us, much less kill us, like it was some sort of lifeline – and none of that explained the strange happenings one bit. All I got from it was that Natsu was probably slipping – but under what, I had no idea.

Jellal had that same dark expression from before as he observed the crumbling form of the Fire Dragon Slayer before him. This may sound a bit crazy, but he looked like he was holding some sort of grudge…which wasn't like him. Whatever was happening to Natsu, he hated it with a burning passion. I half-wondered what had happened in the past for him to hate it this much.

Happy was full-on crying at the weak state his best friend was in. "Natsu…what happened to you…?" he whispered tearfully. "Bring him back…give me my best friend back…"

I lowered my head gritted my teeth in frustration. What a pathetic state we were in. Our fellow guild member – the pillar that held us up during the most trying of times, the glue that held our family together – was breaking down and corroding right in front of eyes and we couldn't do a damn thing about it. We had to turn to a former criminal for help because he was the only other person who knew what Natsu was dealing with, whatever it was.

"That fiend…" Jellal muttered suddenly. I looked back up at his expression, and it was no illusion – Jellal was seething mad. "Doing such a thing to someone so pure-hearted…how much lower will you stoop to satisfy your desires?"

For the first time in a while, Erza looked lost. "Jellal?" she asked. "Do you have a history with this?"

Jellal exhaled deeply before turning back to us, his expression solemn now. "Yes," he said. "I do." He glanced down at Natsu, still sobbing and clinging to his cloak. "Now that I'm certain of the property of this negative energy, I now know my course of action. I'm sorry, but you'll have to say goodbye to Natsu for a little while."

My heart stopped. "What're you talking about?!" I demanded. "You're gonna take him away from us? Just like that?!"

"I never said that I was taking him anywhere."

That stopped me in my tracks. "What? You're not making any sense here, Jellal. Give us some answers."

"You'll get them soon enough," he assured us. "That is, if you let me go through with this. Do you trust me? As I said before, I promise that no permanent harm will come to him."

By now I knew that Jellal wouldn't do anything to hurt Natsu on purpose, but I was still worried. What if something happened, and Natsu never turned out the same way again?

"I don't know about this," Lucy confessed, voicing my thoughts. "I mean…what if something goes wrong and…"

She didn't finish, but everyone else knew what she was going to say.

_What if something happens and we lose Natsu forever? What if he never goes back to normal?_

_What if he dies?_

"It's a risk we'll have to take, right?" I said, looking into everyone's faces in turn. "We won't accomplish anything by just sitting here and twiddling our thumbs. And hasn't Jellal helped us a bunch of times in the past, like when he helped us stop Nirvana and fight off the dragons? Who are we to doubt him now? And besides, we don't have much time. We need to do _something_, or the Natsu we knew won't ever come back! There's no point in hesitating!" I balled my fists. "Besides, I know that this can go wrong! But if we don't do anything then we're just for sure going to lose him! We can't let that happen!"

I didn't want to lose anyone ever again. Not after Ur.

Right then a short old man wearing the cloak of the Ten Wizard Saints stepped forward from the crowd – our guildmaster, Master Makarov.

Jellal inclined his head politely. "Master Makarov, sir," he said, his tone overflowing with respect. "I would like your blessing to begin this process."

The Master bowed in return. "I don't like this idea at all, Jellal," he began, his dark eyes stormy. "There is no parent who does not fear for the welfare of their children, no matter how slight. Before I can give you permission, you must promise me something."

"Of course."

He looked up directly into Jellal's eyes as he spoke. "You must promise me," he said firmly, "that no harm will come to this boy in this process, and that no matter what happens now, you will bring our Natsu back safely."

Jellal bowed again. "You have my word. I do owe Fairy Tail a debt, after all. They've done too much for me that I do not deserve."

"Very well," the Master continued with a huge sigh. "Though I do believe a payment is in order for your help yet again."

"No, nothing is necessary," Jellal said quickly. "I don't need any sort of payment. Just helping you with this is enough."

"Is that so…very well then. I have one more question before you begin."

"Of course. Anything."

"Will this process cure Natsu of whatever affliction is ailing him? It's too much for this old heart of mine to bear watching one of my children suffer so much."

Jellal's expression darkened. "This process alone is not sufficient to rid him of this plague," he answered. "This is more like a diagnosis. A temporary vaccine, if you will. By doing this, I will be able to ascertain the source of this dark energy, and once I track it down…I can get rid of it."

"I see…" The Master looked up at Jellal with a curious expression. "You seem to be quite knowledgeable on this subject, Jellal."

So the Master noticed the same thing I did. This was something not even he knew of; why else would he have asked Jellal all these questions?

Jellal lowered his head in shame. "Yes," he muttered. "I am…all too well. Because I was its previous victim."

Cue the aghast expressions.

"Are you serious, Jellal?" Lucy exclaimed. "This thing that's happening to Natsu…it's happened to you, too?!"

Jellal nodded reluctantly. "It wasn't all that long ago, either," he admitted. "I'm sure you can recall…all the trouble and pain I've caused you."

Was he talking about the whole Tower of Heaven incident? But that couldn't be right. Ultear had confessed to us that the whole reason Jellal had gone rogue was because she had brainwashed him into believing that he'd seen the incarnation of the black wizard Zeref. We already knew the reason behind that…but there was more to it? It was hard to believe.

"You mean the whole Tower of Heaven thing?" I asked. "That doesn't make any sense! You only did all that because Ultear brainwashed you, right?"

"That much is still true," he agreed. "But that isn't the whole story. Ultear was not the sole reason I fell to the dark side. She never would have managed to subdue me if it wasn't for this…malevolent power that had been holding me at the time."

Erza was so shocked I was afraid her eyes would pop out of her head. "You never told me about this!" she cried, stepping closer. "You never told me you had any lingering doubts! When did this happen?!"

"While I was being tortured," he replied flatly. "It was after I was caught trying to rescue you from punishment. The torture alone nearly broke me, but this dark energy almost guaranteed my slipping over the edge by Ultear's hand. You saw how different I'd become when you found me, Erza. I was like a completely different person. Is that not what is happening now with Natsu?" He placed a hand on Natsu's head, which was still trembling. I don't think he could hear anything of what was going on around him as of this moment – in other words, he was refusing to listen to anything other than the assurance that Jellal could help him. "This isn't the friend you know and cherish. When was the last time he was so broken and weak in the face of adversity? This certainly isn't the man who once crossed fists with me and freed me from the dark influence, nor is it the man that saved your life when the tower exploded. This is someone else entirely."

When he put it that way, it was virtually impossible to argue. His explanations made way too much sense for us to refute it in any way. There were too many parallels. We had no other option but to believe in him now.

"This will only take several minutes, but those several minutes will be crucial," Jellal went on, looking at each and every one of us. "I implore all of you to stay your fists once it has been done unless I give the word."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Wendy asked fearfully. "Are you going to hurt Natsu? You're telling us not to interfere?"

"No." He stared her directly in the eye. "Quite the opposite. There is a slight chance that this could get violent, so I'm only warning you to save your energy for when that happens."

I noticed that he said _when_ instead of _if_ as he explained to us. This was obviously not going to be pretty, and I didn't like it one bit. But what other choice did we have?

"Alright, Jellal," the Master agreed, his words heavy. "Do what you must. We shall do as you say and stand down until necessary."

"Thank you, sir," Jellal said. He then turned his attention to Natsu, who still hadn't let go of his cloak. "Natsu, I need you to look at me."

For a minute, I was afraid that he hadn't heard, and I was tempted to yell at him again, but he eventually raised his head slowly to look into Jellal's face. His expression was so hungry and desperate that I had to force myself to stay still as Jellal asked us to.

"I'm going to have to ask you to cooperate," he said. "This will only hurt for a moment, I promise. You deserve a rest, so I'm going to ask you to take a break for a couple minutes, alright?"

Natsu just stared at him with that same uncomprehending light in his eyes. "Wh-what are you talking about?" he asked, not understanding. "Are you telling me to sleep?"

"In a way. Now just relax and try to avoid moving." He loosened Natsu's hold on his cloak as gently as he could and placed his own hands on Natsu's shoulders. "You can trust me. Don't worry; this part of the process won't hurt you – I just need to restrict your movements. It's for everyone's safety, so you won't hurt anyone. Is that acceptable to you?"

Again, it looked like Natsu wasn't listening, but he nodded slowly after a moment's pause. "Yeah. If you can make it so I won't hurt anyone, then I'm okay with it."

I wanted to turn away. I couldn't stand watching this. It hurt just seeing him act so submissive, and I almost did turn around to leave – at least, until Erza stopped me.

"Erza…"

"We need to see this happen, Gray," she said firmly, though I thought I could hear her voice quaver a little. "It would be disrespectful to not witness this."

And I knew better than to argue.

We continued to watch as Jellal removed one hand from Natsu's shoulder. He stayed like that for a moment, concentrating really hard on something, before he muttered something under his breath. I don't know whether anyone else heard what had just been said.

_Bind Snake_.

It was a spell that wrapped around the target's body and restricted movement. Jellal had used it once on Erza back when he was still our enemy, when he was trying to use her as a sacrifice in order to revive Zeref (which was pointless, since he was never really dead in the first place), and I'd heard about what this spell could do. Jellal wouldn't use it in a way that would hurt Natsu, I knew, but it still made my stomach turn at the thought.

The worst part was that Natsu made absolutely no move to resist. He just stood there as the snake tattoo wrapped around his arms, legs, neck, and basically every inch of his body save his head, and left him as immobile as a statue. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he had complete faith in Jellal and whatever he was about to do.

I wish I could say the same with myself, though I couldn't really tell if Natsu really had faith or was just really, really anxious to get rid of whatever was making him like this.

Jellal lifted his other hand away as the Bind Snake spell completely immobilized Natsu. He had a pained look in his eyes now, like he was about to do something he really didn't want to do.

"Alright," he said at last. "Now, this is the hard part. I ask that everyone remain calm. Don't panic."

Jellal then placed his hand over Natsu's heart and closed his eyes as he said, "I'm sorry about this, Natsu." He stood that way for about a minute, and then his eyes snapped open as he intoned, "Limit Release!"

A sharp wave of energy permeated the length of the guild hall, and I didn't like how it felt – it was like trying to breathe in sulfuric fumes, and my heart was beating erratically. Judging from the way everyone else raised their hands to their chests or mouths, they all felt the same thing I did. But that wasn't the part that bothered us the most.

The moment that wave of energy started rippling through the guild, Natsu flung his head back and screamed. It was a loud, long, and horrible sound – the sound of an animal bellowing in pain.

"What d'you think you're doing?!" I shouted over the noise. "You trying to kill him?!"

"Stay calm!" Jellal ordered as Natsu started trying in vain to struggle. "This'll be over in a moment!"

Lucy looked horrified. "But – Natsu is –"

"Natsu!" Wendy shouted in terror.

"You're hurting him!" Happy cried. "Stop it!"

The screaming stopped the moment Happy had finished talking. Natsu was frozen in position, his head still flung back, completely silent. Was he knocked out? Or was he…

"You bastard," I growled as I turned on Jellal lividly. "He better not be dead, or else your face will be meeting the pavement!"

However, Jellal was completely focused on Natsu. I don't think he even heard my death threat.

"I know you're in there, you monster," Jellal said, his voice low yet still dripping with fury. "Start talking, and don't try anything funny. You're going to give these people the information they want. What are you planning to do?"

Nothing happened, which was expected since he was talking to someone who was unconscious. I was on the verge of thinking that Jellal probably hadn't recovered all of his marbles, and I was just about to tell him so. Why was he talking as if _Natsu_ was the monster?

Before I got the chance to say anything, a strange voice suddenly spoke. Well, not spoke so much as let out a dark snicker.

_"Hahaha…"_ My throat constricted when I realized where the voice was coming from. _"It's been a while, Jellal. Straight to the point as always, I see."_

I wanted to throw up somewhere. I felt so sick, so dizzy, and _horrified_. Natsu was moving again. He lowered his head, his sclera suddenly a bright crimson, laughing in that horrible way.

_"Even if it is just a little bit…"_ the voice mused, _"it feels great, being able to move again."_

That voice was coming from Natsu.

* * *

This had to be some sort of nightmare. It had to be some sort of trick, an illusion. What I witnessing just couldn't be happening for real!

But no matter how many times I tried to fool myself, I knew in my gut that this really was happening. This wasn't Natsu anymore. No wonder Jellal has spoken to him that way.

"Save the pleasantries," Jellal said coldly. "What we want are answers. What are you planning to do with Natsu?"

_"Heh, I don't remember you being __this__ stiff,"_ "Natsu" teased. _"You've grown quite a bit, haven't you?"_

I felt like there were coals lodged somewhere in my chest. I couldn't breathe. I knew this wasn't Natsu, but…whoever it was, it was unbearable watching this _thing_ speak through Natsu's mouth. The voice sounded like him, but at the same time, it was different. There was another voice underneath his – a sound unrecognizable, not of this earth, and definitely evil.

"Natsu" then looked around at the crowd of people surrounding him, and whistled appreciatively.

_"Wow,"_ he remarked. _"You gathered an audience for me, too. Isn't that kind of you."_

"That's enough!" Jellal said sharply. "These are the friends of the person you are trying to steal away from them. They deserve answers! Now answer my question – what do you think you're planning to do with Natsu?!"

"_You don't need to be acting so rude,"_ "Natsu" scoffed. _"I would've told you sooner if you'd asked me nicely."_

"Let Natsu go!" Lucy shouted suddenly. She was sweating bullets, but there was a defiant expression on her face. "He's our friend; I won't let you take him away from us! If you do, you'll be sorry!"

"Natsu" glanced half-heartedly in her direction at her rant.

_"Hmm?"_ he prompted blankly. _"Who're you?"_ Then he raked his eyes over her body, and a hungry gleam began shining in his unnaturally red eyes. _"Well, what do you know. Whoever you are, you've got quite a body on you, little lady. You this guy's girlfriend?"_

Although we were in the presence of a certain monstrosity right now, it didn't stop Lucy from getting defensive at his remark. "I'm not his girlfriend!" she spat, her face redder than Erza's hair. "Don't you go getting strange ideas, you freak! Just let my friend go!"

"Natsu" laughed at Lucy's flustered reaction. _"You've got spunk,"_ he noted with delight. _"I love women like you. I'd love to entertain you, but…"_ He glanced down irritably at the Bind Snake restraining him. _"…I'm not exactly as free as a bird right now."_

I couldn't take any more of this. "This is disgusting," I spat, prompting "Natsu" to look in my direction instead. "I don't know who you are, but get out of him already! I know it's not really him doing it, but watching Natsu say stuff like this makes me want to puke! This is all kinds of wrong!"

_"Oh, so you claim to be this guy's friend, huh?_" he mused. "_I do wonder how he manages to deal with you, 'cause you know something…_" He dropped his light façade and glowered threateningly at me. "_I've known you for all of ten seconds and I already want to kill you."_

My entire body froze in spite of myself at his words. Scratch what I just said to this guy earlier – this was all kinds of wrong _and then some_. Not to mention, it was kind of surreal seeing Natsu threatening to kill me. I couldn't deny what I felt the moment he glared into my eyes.

Fear.

"Enough with the games," Jellal interjected. His tone was still carefully controlled, but I could sense his rage underneath. It was nearly bursting at the seams. "I didn't bring you out so you can threaten to kill his friends. This is the last time I will ask you." He stepped forward until he was practically nose to nose with the thing possessing our friend. "What are you planning to do with Natsu Dragneel?"

"Natsu" didn't answer for a minute, but then a maniacal grin stretched across his face. _"Aww, I'd hate to ruin the surprise."_

"This isn't a game, you fiend!"

_"Well, how about this, then? We'll make it one."_

Jellal paled at those words, and "Natsu" licked his lips in anticipation.

"You…you wouldn't dare," Jellal said through tight lips.

_"Oh, I do. This sure brings back memories, doesn't it?" _"Natsu" laughed again. By this point I was ready to deafen myself at a moment's notice – I couldn't stand hearing him laugh like that in Natsu's voice. _"Just like the game you played with this kid and his friends. Good times."_

Wendy trembled, hugging Carla tightly to her chest. "What are you talking about? What game?"

_"Oh, I don't believe I've seen this one before,"_ he noted, glancing at Wendy briefly before turning his attention back to Jellal. _"This one doesn't know, does she? She wasn't there when it happened."_

"What do you hope to gain from this?" Jellal demanded as he grabbed Natsu's scarf and yanked him closer as far as the spell would allow. "You've tried this before while I was under your influence, and you failed! Do you honestly think you'll succeed this time?!"

"_Heheh…would I have suggested it if I knew it would fail?" _"Natsu" asked him mockingly. _"Use that brilliant mind of yours, Jellal. There is one reason, and one reason only, that you failed my purposes all those years ago." _"Natsu" managed to resist the Bind Snake spell slightly in order to reach Jellal's ear and whisper, _"You lacked potential."_

Jellal was so shocked he actually stumbled a couple steps backward. "Wh-what?!"

_"Was I not clear enough for you?"_ "Natsu" teased as he pulled back. _"Let me enunciate for you then. You…lacked…potential." _He grinned mockingly in Jellal's direction. _"Was that better?"_

By now, I had no idea whether I should be confused or scared out of my mind. The "game" that Jellal had played with us during the Tower of Heaven incident failed because of his own incompetence? It had been plenty annoying and difficult to me.

Jellal still looked pretty shaken. "So what you're trying to tell me…is that Natsu is more suited for your purposes than I was?"

_"Exactly!" _"Natsu" exclaimed. _"This Fire Dragon Slayer holds an infinite number of possibilities! Oh, man; I'm tingling just thinking about them!"_

"You fiend!" Erza growled. "How could you do this?!"

_"Oh, very easily, sweetheart," _"Natsu" assured her._ "You'd be surprised."_

I just saw Natsu call Erza a "sweetheart". I didn't know how much more of this I would be able to handle before I snapped.

_"Now, about the game I mentioned earlier,"_ he went on. _"I'll be nice and explain everything before I start, because Natsu's actually been pretty good at keeping his promise of not telling you anything." _

I understood immediately. "So you were the reason he wouldn't talk! You made him promise to keep his mouth shut by blackmailing him, didn't you?!"

_"Oh, how smart of you, __Gray__," _he praised me half-heartedly. _"Let me tell you; if there's one thing this idiot is really good at, it's keeping promises." _He turned his attention back to the rest of us._ "Anyway, here's how it will go down. As you can tell, I've already taken Natsu's body hostage. If you manage to free him by the time the sun fully sets tomorrow, you win. But if not…" _That insane sneer came back. The red eyes just worsened the sight._ "I win, and Natsu's body is mine for the taking."_

The lot of us froze like icicles at that.

"You can't be serious!" I yelled.

"You've gone mad!" Erza shouted.

"No, you can't!" Wendy pleaded.

"There's no way we'll let that happen!" Lucy cried.

_"That confidence of yours," _"Natsu" sighed sardonically. _"It's so potent, just like the last time we crossed paths. But…will you be able to keep it together this time around, I wonder?"_

"You should know that better than any of us here," Jellal responded in a hard voice. "One should never underestimate the power of Fairy Tail. You incur their wrath, you incur the wrath of the heavens, and judgment _will_ find you."

_"Oh no, I'm shaking in my sandals," _"Natsu" mocked with a small yet knowing smile. _"Well, I'll be wishing you all the very __best__ of luck. Let the game begin, and may the best party win!"_

Just like that, he was gone. The Bind Snake vanished from around Natsu's body, and I saw his sclera go back to its normal color right before his eyes closed. Without anything to support him, he fell to the ground like a sack of bricks.

"Natsu!" Lucy was the first to make a break for him with Happy right behind her, but the rest of us quickly followed suit and gathered around our friend. Only Jellal hung back.

Lucy was holding Natsu up on her lap and trying to wake him by the time I got to them. Happy was right next to her, gently patting his pale and sweat-drenched face.

"How is he?" I asked urgently as I knelt next to her. Erza, Wendy, and everybody else hovered over us in worry.

Lucy only shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears. Apparently she couldn't bring herself to say anything, and I didn't blame her – we were all at least a little bit in shock.

"We only have twenty-four hours," Wendy said worriedly. "If we can't free Natsu by then, he'll…he'll be gone forever!"

"We can't let that happen," Lucy muttered determinedly. "We can't lose Natsu like this."

Abruptly Natsu gasped and his eyes snapped open, shocking all of us even more. When he saw the masses of faces around him, he panicked for a minute and scrambled to sit up.

"W-wait a second –" He tried to back away from us, but he was surrounded, plus too weak to really go anywhere regardless. "You have to stay away – I – I don't want –"

"It's okay, Natsu," Lucy said soothingly, causing him to lapse into silence. "It's going to be okay. You won't hurt us. Just be your old confident self, and things will work out."

He looked confused. "Hold on…how do you…" He rubbed his forehead confusedly. "What just happened…"

"We can explain that later," Erza said. "But we heard everything, and you have no reason to hide anything from us now. You're free of your promise."

When Erza said that, Natsu seemed to register the fact that he didn't have to worry about hurting his friends anymore…or at least, for the time being, because we knew what was happening with him now, and he didn't have to hide anything. We could help him without reserve now.

He lowered his head in relief. "Thank God…" He brought a hand up to his face, and his shoulders started shaking. He was crying. "I thought I was going to die…"

"Not gonna happen," Happy said firmly, climbing onto Natsu's lap. "We're definitely going to help you, Natsu! Because we're Fairy Tail wizards, and Fairy Tail wizards are family! And family members help each other!"

After that, Natsu smiled for the first time in days, which was admittedly a welcome sight for me. I didn't realize how much I'd missed that stupid grin of his until now.

"Thanks, buddy," he said quietly, pulling the little cat into an embrace. "I'm sorry for all the horrible things I said to you before. That must've really hurt."

Happy didn't answer, but that was fine. He didn't need to say anything to get the message across. He was forgiven.

* * *

_Awww, isn't that cute! X3_

_And no, Jellal did __not__ show up too soon. I know what I'm doing; don't lecture me! *pouts*_

_Haha, but in all seriousness, there is a reason he showed up so early. The solution isn't going to come this easily to the characters when I'm writing, no sir. I know this seems like a bit much considering it's the second chapter and there are a good number more to go before this ends, but I promise you; there will be plenty more content._

_Call me cliché if you will for this, but I don't care. I haven't written any possession incidents since __Bittersweet Journey__ (No, __That One Side Of You__ doesn't count because that was something completely different), and this seemed like a good excuse. Losing your free will to someone else…that's a fascinating yet scary thought. That's why I'm so intrigued by it._

_Anyway, I hope that Gray was acceptably readable. Honestly, for a male character I didn't think he'd turn out this generic, but…he is technically Natsu's foil in canon; it's kind of hard writing him in first person to begin with (either that or I just stink with characters like him)._

_So yeah. I also made this chapter longer (nearly twice as long!) to make up for the last one. I do hope you enjoyed! See you guys next update, whenever it happens!_


	4. Understand And Be Understood

_Dear God! I've missed you, Natsu! *glomps* Heheh, ahem. Sorry. I have no right to say that since I've been being pretty mean to him (and this is my first FT story, too), but…I don't care. XD_

_Alright, well, here's the third chapter. I hope you like it! This is also a breather chapter (of sorts) to cancel out (most of) the tension from the last update._

_Please forgive me, Natsu! This had to be done! For the sake of STORYTELLING!_

**Ch. 3: Understand And Be Understood**

Do you know what it feels like to have a vice clamped around your chest? Even if you don't, you know that it would really hurt to have that happen, right? I mean, that's where your heart is; if that place hurts, there's obviously something wrong.

Well, let me tell ya – it hurts like hell.

But despite that, I still felt better than I had in days. I'm still not completely sure I understood what had happened while I was out, but it was as if a heavy fog had finally lifted away from around me, and I could socialize normally again. You have no idea how stifling it was trying to keep away from everyone like the plague. I swear, I probably would've killed myself if it weren't for Jellal, and…whatever the heck he did to me. Ever since I woke up, though, I've been feeling lighter, but I knew that I still wasn't completely cured. Jellal had explained as much that what he'd just done was just a temporary treatment of sorts, and that I shouldn't relax just yet. Reassuring words to hear from your doctor, huh?

"The dark energy may have lessened for now, but I still sense its presence within you," he'd explained before he left. "Don't get too complacent; as long as it remains, you're still in danger from being taken."

Yep. Definitely reassuring.

But at the moment, lounging on Lucy's huge bed with my teammates, I couldn't help but feel at ease. Don't blame me; if you'd been caught in a cloud of depression for a really long time like me, you'd want to savor this feeling, too, no matter how small it is. Besides, it wasn't like we really had any other choice – I'd been banned from jobs until this matter was settled.

Yeah. Just me. Sucks, doesn't it?

Erza, Wendy, and Gray had decided to check out the dark guild that we'd taken down to try and figure out what had happened to me, exactly, while Lucy and Happy decided to stay with me. Also, since I couldn't work and wasn't allowed to be on my own, Lucy had invited me to stay at her place until the whole fiasco had blown over. It was for safety measures, since they had no idea when I'd lose control of myself and…well, you know. I didn't argue too hard, because I didn't want to hurt anybody without meaning to, but it still annoyed me slightly that I wasn't able to do anything to help. A serious drag.

Besides, that whole grabbing-the-cloak-and-crying deal…yeah, I'd prefer not to remember that, and I wasn't exactly eager to bring up that subject either, so…one more reason to stay put for me. It was just embarrassing.

Especially since Lucy and Happy wouldn't stop fussing over me like I was some sick little kid. I know that they mean well, but trust me – it can get really annoying after a while.

"C'mon, you guys," I finally retorted. "I'm fine, really! Don't fuss over me so much."

"Well, you say that now, but we can't be too careful, Natsu," Lucy said worriedly. "That thing could come back any moment, you know!"

Happy clung to my left shoulder. He hadn't let go of me ever since I woke up. "That's right! I don't want you to get all evil again!" he sobbed.

I sighed and scratched my head. "Yeah, but you guys being so overprotective isn't really going to make this thing go away, right? Where'd all that confidence go, huh?"

Lucy still looked nervous. "Natsu, I –"

"Look, I know how you feel. Honest. But it doesn't make too much sense when you're the one more worried about this than I am, you know? You heard Happy; everything will turn out okay, no matter what happens." I smiled. "Besides, even if that thing did take over again, you guys would bust me out, anyway. Stop worrying so much!"

Happy sniffled against my shoulder, getting my sleeve wet. "I was only saying that to make everyone feel better…"

Lucy just stared at me in surprise for a minute (what was so surprising about what I just said?), but then she gave a tentative smile. "Geez, Natsu," she mumbled, wiping her eyes. "To think that I was the one cheering you up earlier. How did it become the other way around?"

"Blame Jellal," I suggested casually.

"Why would I do something like that? He helped you!"

"Well, if he made you cry, that's a good enough reason, right?"

"You're unbelievable."

"That's what I'm famous for."

The two of us laughed. It felt so good having a casual conversation with my friends again. I may have gone a bit overboard, but I didn't care – being quiet for so long had been really hard.

"Say, Natsu," Lucy said suddenly. "Is it alright if I ask you something?"

I looked at her expectantly. "Sure. What is it?"

She folded her hands on her lap and stared at the floor. She looked nervous all over again. "Don't…don't get mad, okay?"

"Why would I get mad at you?" I asked, baffled.

"Well, I was just wondering…" Lucy took a deep breath and went on, "What does it feel like? You know, having that thing inside you? Does it hurt?"

I froze. So this was why she was afraid of getting me mad. She thought she was broaching a dangerous subject.

Granted, it wasn't something I liked to remember. And the feeling it gave me was pretty hard to describe with words. But…she wanted an answer. She wanted to understand what I went through the past few days. Since she was my friend, I couldn't deny her that.

I must've been quiet for a pretty long time, because I heard Happy say out of the blue, "Are you mad, Natsu?"

"Oh, uh…no. I'm okay." I tried to get my bearings back. Man, spacing out like this really wasn't like me. "I'm fine."

"Can you tell us, then?" he pressed. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but…"

"No, really, it's fine!" I said hurriedly. "I was just wondering how to explain all this, that's all. Honest."

"You sure you weren't just spacing out?"

I knocked Happy on the head. "No, I wasn't!" I snapped.

"Just ignore him, Natsu," Lucy implored me as Happy whimpered and rubbed his head. "So? Can you tell us?"

I crossed my arms. "Well…it's hard to put into words, really," I admitted. "Like, when it first happened, it felt like there was something inside my heart moving around all gross-like. That one hurt pretty bad."

Lucy flinched, but I ignored that.

"After I, um, passed out, this thing started talking to me in my mind. At the beginning, I felt really empty. I couldn't remember anything about myself. But as I was talking to…to _that_, I started to get some feeling back as it kept talking.

"And well, after all that…I don't really know myself. It was like I was in some constant daze. At least, until today, when I came back to the guild after I left and…" Without meaning to, I moved my left hand up to my right shoulder, where my guild mark had been. The skin around the area still felt raw from when I'd rubbed it off in front of everyone. I still couldn't believe I'd been the one who'd gone and done that. I probably hadn't been thinking straight, which made total sense.

It was weird. I remembered everything I did ever since that strange feeling in my chest came up until now, but thinking back on it, I really couldn't believe that that person had been _me_. Okay, well, it probably _hadn't_ been me, but you get what I mean.

"Oh yeah…" Lucy stared at my right shoulder somberly. "Your guild mark…you didn't get a chance to put it back on, right?"

"Yeah." I grinned without humor. "I didn't. That was stupid of me, huh? I'm still not officially back in Fairy Tail yet, and you guys are still helping me. I should prepare a huge reward, shouldn't I? Enough to pay for your rent for the rest of the year, maybe?"

"Oh come on, you don't need to do that," Lucy protested. "It doesn't matter if you have the guild mark or not; it's the heart of the person bearing it that is important, right? I thought you knew that."

Yeah, I did know that. But that didn't mean that I still shouldn't do her any favors in payment.

"Well, yeah," I said, "but member of Fairy Tail or not, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't do anything for you to pay you back. It's just not the way I do things, you know?"

_**You shouldn't need to do anything for these idiots.**_

I winced and automatically raised my hand to my heart, even though the pain was minimal. Just perfect. This thing had come back to talk smack about my friends again at about the worst time. It pissed me off more than you could believe.

Lucy looked worried again. "Natsu, are you okay?" she asked urgently. "Is that thing coming back?"

"Don't worry about it," I grunted, massaging my chest. "This idiot just doesn't know when to quit, that's all. Hold on for just a minute, okay?"

I focused on that voice without waiting for a response. _What the hell are you doing here? _I asked it scathingly. _I thought you were taking a little break from the real world._

_**I'm only here to say it like it is, Natsu, **_it argued. _**I mean really, you're still willing to trust these guys? They left you stranded and left for dead only a couple days ago.**_

_Yeah, because of you! It wasn't their fault that they couldn't do anything! You wouldn't let me tell them anything and you nearly killed me!_

_**Oh, sure. Blame the malevolent ice worm inside your heart. Yeah, that's fair.**_

_It's totally fair. And you're an ice worm?_

_**No, I'm not an ice worm, **_it said sarcastically. _**Seriously. Why do you have to be such an idiot, huh? It would be a whole lot easier for me if you were like Jellal in just that.**_

_Well, what __are__ you then? _I demanded. _You're obviously a monster, right? But what I want to know is what __kind__ of monster you are!_

_**Well, if you really **__**must**__** know, **_it said irritably, _**I'm like a Vulcan. Only I don't turn into a giant hairy ape when I Take Over.**_

_Oh, that's just great, _I griped bitterly. _Good to know you won't turn me into a perverted monkey. And that still doesn't tell me anything about what you are._

_**You really are a moron if that's what you're worried about.**_

_Geez, I don't even remember why I'm talking to you anymore. Leave me alone, alright? I was talking to my friends!_

_**I wonder how long it'll stay that way,**_ it mused.

_Seriously. Shut UP!_

_**Pfft, fine. I'll keep my deal as promised and wait until sundown tomorrow. You better hope your friends have a solution before then, or else you'll end up being my vessel… **_it paused. _**Though I guess you technically **__**are**__** my vessel right now. Just not permanent.**_

_You really don't know what those two words mean, do you?_

_**No, I do. I just choose to ignore them.**_

_You bastard._

_**At least I keep my end of the bargains, **_it huffed._** Well, see you around.**_

_Good riddance._

…_**Ah, wait a minute! Forgot to tell you something important.**_

_Ugh, what now?!_

_**Just saying…you know that blondie with you?**_

_Lucy?_

_**Yeah, her. If I were you – and I technically am – well, I'm any guy who I choose to possess, really –**_

_Get to the point!_ I snapped irritably.

_**You just **__**have**__** to get more annoying by the second, **_it grumbled._** Anyway, you really scored with that chick. You should totally get together. I really want her!**_

…_You've gotta be kidding me._

_**C'mon. It's all the easier for me to make her mine if you do it first!**_

_Like hell that'll happen. You're talking like you think you're gonna win!_

_**Best to be an optimist, isn't it? I learned that just by hanging out inside you.**_

_Yeah, here's the thing – that hardly ever works with bad guys. I have experience._

_**Come on, I just want to play with her, just a little bit. She looks like such an entertaining toy!**_

If you could make a totally-grossed-out face in your mind, I probably did just then. _You're totally disgusting, you know that?_ I said with chagrin.

_**You only say that because you wish you knew how to play with her better.**_

I couldn't believe I was holding this conversation. _You know what; I'm leaving now. You're giving me a headache._

_**Well, take good care of her until tomorrow! **_it urged. _**I like my ladies alive and kicking!**_

_Good God, you're sicker than I thought! _I growled. _There's no way I'm doing any favors for you! You've got another thing coming if you think that you'll win! __And__ there's no way you're laying a finger on Lucy! _

_**Even if they're yours?**_

_Especially__ if they're mine! I'm getting sick just thinking about it!_

_**You'd better hope she doesn't hear that, **_it warned, though it sounded like it was teasing._** She'll kill you.**_

_That's the least of my worries._

_**Oh, of course it is. Man, the thought of you and your friends killing each other. That brings serious chills up my spine.**_

_Wha – you don't even __have__ a spine! And I don't know if I've said this already, but you really are messed up!_

_**You did,**_ it assured me. _**Well, I'm going for real now; you're a chore talking to. You'd better hope we never talk again, **__**Natsu**__**.**_

I opened my eyes irritably and unintentionally muttered aloud, "The feeling's mutual, jerk."

"Natsu?"

I exhaled. I could feel my own frustration in that breath. "Sorry about that, Lucy," I apologized, still surly from the conversation. "He was just being…real messed up. As usual."

"Wrong how?"

"You don't wanna know." My stomach churned slightly at the thought. "Trust me."

I don't know what my face looked like right then, but Lucy didn't argue too hard once she saw it. "U-um, right. Never mind."

I sighed in relief internally. Not only was I reluctant to tell her about what the crazy thing inside my heart had said about her, but…I also kind of not wanted to let on how terrified I was of it. I mean, think about it – I was Natsu Dragneel, the fiery Dragon Slayer who wasn't afraid of anything. That's half my reputation right there. (The other half was property damage.) I don't ever back down in the face of danger; I punch it in the face. That's the way I do things.

Despite that, even the impulsive side of me knew that this was way more dangerous than anything I've faced before. Fighting off an army of dragons and saving the world? No biggie. Getting my body hijacked by an evil entity that wanted to kill my friends and possibly innocent bystanders? Holy crap; no thank you.

The scariest part? I had a horrible feeling that it _would_ happen, no matter what my friends did. This freak of nature would definitely take my body and cause mass panic and destruction throughout Magnolia – and possibly even the entire Fiore Kingdom. The only reason I didn't freak out completely was that I had faith that my friends would beat the sense into me once that happened. I would probably be an inch from dying, but at least I'd be dying as me and not some monster.

But I couldn't tell my friends that. They were stressed enough as it was over this; I didn't want to give them a heart attack.

Now don't get me wrong; I have no intention of dying or anything. I'm just saying that there was a good chance of me needing to force my friends to come at me with the intent to kill or else they'd never get me back. So…it was just a precautious thought. Jellal was lucky that we'd (well, I'd) been there to knock some sense into him before he slipped too far. I didn't even want to think about what would've happened if I hadn't.

Phew…that was possibly the most pessimistic thought I'd ever had in my life. I really had to get it together.

"Natsu?"

Lucy's voice pulled me back into the present. "Sorry, what was that?"

She sighed wistfully. "Wow, it's rare of you to be so deep in thought," she noted. "What was going on in that head of yours?"

"Oh, just…you know, this and that."

"About that monster inside you, right?"

I couldn't deny feeling a bit surprised at her insight. Most of the time, she was a dense and naïve blond girl, but sometimes she really came through in the intelligence department. Like now.

"I know; it's honestly hard to keep your mind off of that, isn't it?" she continued, folding up her legs at the foot of the bed and curling into a ball of sorts. "It's like that with all of us, and I'm sure you knew that. But I can only imagine how _you_ must be feeling right now about all this, what with that thing being inside you and threatening to steal you away from us."

I didn't say anything.

"But you know what?" she went on as she looked up at me. "I still think that we'll be able to help you in time, Natsu. No, I _know_ that we will." She stared back down at her toes with a small smile. "Remember what I told you before your match in the Grand Magic Games?"

I nodded. _I've believed in you ever since I joined the guild._ I didn't repeat it out loud, though.

"Well, I still think that," she said. "Nothing so far has gotten me to change my mind about it. You just kept proving me right, and I don't think I'll be disappointed this time around, either."

Okay, this shouldn't have surprised me one bit. She'd always been like this. Her faith rarely wavered, and her pluckiness showed it, even through the tougher times.

Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't believe that she had such confidence that things would turn out okay this time. I mean, it would, but just not in the way she'd want it to. For some reason, I got the strange and irrational feeling that she wasn't taking this situation seriously enough, and I got a bit disgruntled.

"Lucy…"

She turned back to face me, her eyes wide in surprise – whether at my face or tone, I didn't know. "Yeah?"

"Look, I'm…flattered that you have all this confidence in me," I said. "But I have to tell you something about that. You shouldn't brush this off so lightly like those other times."

"Brush this off?" she repeated in shock. "I'm not brushing this off at all! I just have faith that you can –"

"Faith alone won't save me this time, Lucy!" I snapped, cutting her off. I cursed at myself internally for losing my cool like that, but I was getting on edge about Lucy's attitude toward all this. I'd snapped without thinking.

I heard Happy mutter on my shoulder, "Natsu…"

"I need to tell you this while I still have the chance," I said firmly, pulling Happy off my shoulder and setting him on the bed right next to me. "Listen up. You guys won't be able to save me in time."

Lucy looked horrified. She shot to her feet and protested, "Natsu; how could –"

"I'm telling you the truth," I insisted. "I don't know how I know, but I do. So let me tell you this." I shot each of them a firm look. "I don't know what'll happen once this thing takes over, but when it does…come at me to kill."

Lucy covered her mouth with her hands. "Natsu…!"

"It's the only way."

"But we can't kill you; you're our friend! How can you expect us to –"

"You have faith in me, don't you?" I interrupted, prompting Lucy to silence herself. "Come at me like you want to kill me, but I'm not planning on kicking the bucket anytime soon."

"But –"

"We don't have the time to argue about this, Lucy. Either do that and get me back, or go easy on me and I'm gone forever. What would you want to pick?"

I knew I had her at that. If Lucy really knew me, then she'd know what I wanted her to do.

"Natsu…" Happy began. "What if we can't? You're super strong now, and when that evil monster takes you away, he'll be using your magic, right? How can we beat you when –"

"Man, you guys are bringing me down," I sighed as I scratched my neck. "This is pathetic. I mean, really!"

"Natsu, you just told us to try and kill you!" Lucy shouted angrily. "How else are we –"

"You know something – and I'll deny that I ever said this later – I'm not the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail," I reminded her. "If you guys all come at me at once, you'll have a chance."

"You're crazy!"

"And I thought you knew that already. What else is new?"

"I told you; you're crazy!"

"And I told _you_," I countered irritably, "that we don't have the time to argue! If there was another solution to all this, then I would have told you so! You might lose me and people will live, or you definitely will and this whole country will burn to ashes!" I glared at her and growled to get my point across. "I know that you'll do what's right, but I want to hear it from out of your mouth, Lucy. Now _choose!_"

I could hear Happy sobbing next to me, but I didn't look at him. My attention was fixed on Lucy, and I wasn't going to look away until she gave me an answer. Now I finally knew what the others meant when they said Lucy was always being _too nice_. When it came to stuff like this, she would always try to take the easy way out – save everyone without hurting anyone. That's worked before, but not always. And it definitely wouldn't work that way this time.

I'd never held that against her – heck, she's done it several times – but this was different. _Nice_ wasn't an option here. Things were going to get rough – for me, for her…for everybody.

She couldn't be nice to me if she wanted to save me, and I was more than willing to sit here all night glowering straight into Lucy's eyes until she realized that.

* * *

_Ahem, yeah. I stuck in a (rather morbid) ship tease. Is that a crime? Huh? HUH?_

_All teasing aside, this chapter was actually pretty challenging as far as Natsu's character went (part of the reason this chapter is short again). I'm still not completely used to him yet (I think I'm getting better, though), and considering what happened last chapter, it was hard writing something believable. I did my best, and I hope it shows, even in something as short as this._

_You know, this story is going by pretty quickly. I can't believe how much exactly I'd planned for this. At least this means that I'm doing okay! Right?_

_In either case, I hope you enjoyed chapter three! Chapter 4 will be out…sometime! Thanks for all your support, and see you guys next time!_


	5. On The Wide Path To Destruction

_Oooh, ominous title! Evil happenings are afoot! *cue ominous thunder*_

_Okay, anyway. Chapter Four is finally here, yay! Sorry for the long wait, folks. :D Things will start to move in this chapter (where it actually starts to pick up is up to interpretation), and I can't be more excited. There's a lot of crazy stuff ahead – for me, you, and our little gang of heroes! And I do mean __A LOT__ of craziness. The next several chapters will be a wild ride. Brace yourselves!_

_Anyway, Chapter Four ho! Let's do this!_

_(This is probably my second favorite chapter so far after chapter 2. The angst is freaking __PALPABLE__ here. Oh, and __**SPOILER ALERT**__. Yeah, that should be obvious by now; I shouldn't need to remind you guys anymore.)_

**Ch. 4: On The Wide Path To Destruction**

I couldn't tear my gaze away from Natsu's.

That was the scariest thing. I'd seen him grim and serious before, but this was on a whole other scale. His eyes made it seem as if lightheartedness didn't exist, or was just a foreign concept. I'd never seen his mouth go so thin before. He sat cross-legged on my bed with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at me with those intense eyes of his with no intention of letting me go.

It was like he was challenging me. _Go ahead and hold back. You do that, and this country will burn to ashes._

I still couldn't believe that he was asking this of me – no, not just me, but everybody else, too. Natsu – _our_ Natsu – was telling me that we couldn't save him and was asking us to try and kill him. Didn't he know us at all? Didn't he remember how we'd broken through every obstacle by never losing faith in each other – most of all ourselves? How could he expect us to go through with his request after all that? I wanted to protest, to argue that he just couldn't be serious, but the fire in his eyes dissuaded me because I knew I'd only get hurt if I did.

The worst part was that some part of me knew he was right. Even so, I couldn't accept it – I didn't want to face the truth, the horrible possibility that this could be the last night that I would be speaking with Natsu as himself.

"Well, Lucy?" Natsu's sharp voice broke me out of my shock. "Don't keep me waiting."

I struggled with all my might to keep my voice from shaking, but I failed miserably. "Natsu…" I stuttered. "I…"

"I told you we don't have time for this!" he snarled. "Enough with all this kindness crap. I need an answer from you _now_, Lucy – while I'm still around to hear it!"

At that, my blood froze. My heart clenched in terror, forcing me to take a step away from the bed. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Natsu can be bone-chillingly frightening when he's genuinely angry. I'd seen him that way several times before whenever he'd been confronting a particularly cruel enemy threatening our guild or anyone associated – and every time I'd seen it, I was glad that it hadn't been directed at me. His opponents' reactions had always been the same – expressions ranging from disbelief to pure fear. It wasn't hard to figure out why he was called a 'monster' all the time. Combining his near-immeasurable strength with his righteous rage was basically guaranteeing a slow and agonizing defeat at his hands.

I wondered to myself if Natsu realized that. He wasn't even doing anything to me and I was still beside myself with terror. I couldn't bring myself to move, to speak, to do anything. I didn't want to make him angrier with me; that was just asking for a death sentence.

I don't know how long we stayed that way, but Natsu eventually sighed heavily in disappointment, surprising me. His eyes were closed and his expression looked…strangely resigned.

"So this is how it's gonna be?" he asked me quietly, opening his eyes to stare at me again with an oddly accusing light. "You're backing out on me; is that it?"

I was shocked beyond words. How did he get to _that_ conclusion? "What?!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide. "No, of course not! I just –"

Natsu scoffed without humor. "Oh, really? Well, that's funny, 'cause I can't see it any other way. Looks to me like you're just giving up, Lucy."

I couldn't give a response to defend myself from that. He'd found the weak chink in my armor. He'd pulled the truth right out and laid it out in the open for all to see like he always did. There was no hiding from it. My confidence was shaken more than anyone would ever believe.

"Natsu, I…" What? What could I possibly say to him in this situation that would satisfy him? "I promise; it's – it's not what you think –"

"I don't want to hear your excuses," he cut in tersely. "It doesn't matter what you say to me when all that's coming out of your mouth are lies."

His words cut clear through me like a hot knife. The accompanying pain was brief yet incredibly sharp. I didn't know what to think, didn't know what to feel when he said that. I was just a jumble of messed-up feelings at that point – confused, scared, hurt, angry – because I couldn't understand his words or implications.

I felt so lost.

Happy must've seen the devastated mask I was probably wearing, because he turned to his friend and cried indignantly, "How can you say something like that, Natsu?! She isn't lying about anything, you know! She's not giving up on you!" He looked to me for confirmation. "Right, Lucy?"

Before I could gather myself enough to respond, Natsu beat me to the punch – and his words were _not_ friendly.

"You don't get it, Happy," he said in an uncharacteristically cold voice. "It's not me that she's giving up on. It's herself. It's about time she grew a damned spine."

"What're you talking about?" Happy demanded as he suddenly flew in between me and his old friend. "What do you mean she's giving up on herself? You're barely giving her a chance to say anything! You're not making this easy for her!"

"Ohh, now I get it," Natsu said scathingly, glaring up at Happy floating before him. "You think I'm making this hard for her on purpose, huh? Is that what you think?!" He looked like he was on the verge of slapping Happy out of the air, and he lowered his head and clenched his fists in an attempt to curb his urge. "I thought you were my friend, Happy. Can't you see why I'm doing this? At all?"

Natsu almost sounded as if he was close to tears, which surprised me more than anything else he'd just done. He'd been angry with me just a couple seconds ago, and now he was suddenly about to cry?

"Well, all I can see is that you're hurting her, Natsu!" Happy shot back. "You're being mean to her!"

"And do you think I'm actually _enjoying_ this?!" he shouted from his hunched position.

Happy looked taken aback at Natsu's sudden outburst, at a complete loss of words. I couldn't blame him; I think his shouting chased my vocal chords away.

"Look," he began in a low voice, his words hissing through his clenched jaws. "I hate having to do this, too. I don't want to do things this way, but I told you guys already that this is the only possible way to get rid of this thing!" His entire body was shaking now as he raised a hand and clutched his heart. "I have faith in you guys, and I have faith in myself that we can all pull through this. I know I said faith isn't enough to make everything okay this time, but what I meant was that we have to act on it. We can't just sit here and hope for the best. I know that, and I know that you guys know it, too." A trickle of water trailed down his face, glinting like a lone diamond in the light of the room, and I had to do a double take to make sure that wasn't a trick of my eyes. I couldn't believe it – _Natsu was actually crying_. "But…how am I supposed to get my confidence to mean anything when my own friends are too scared to help me?!"

His words left no room for backtalk – it was almost like an assault. I kept getting the feeling that he was practically attacking me with his words, trying to force me into a corner and pry the answer that he wanted out of me.

I also felt near-incapacitating remorse. I couldn't believe I hadn't considered Natsu's part in all this. It had to have killed him to ask something like this of me and everyone else in extension. He knew that it'd be hard for us to follow through with that request. He knew that it would hurt us more than he'd ever be in this situation. But he'd asked anyway, because it was the only thing that could be done to save him in the certain event that we wouldn't be able to fulfill the challenge by the deadline. He didn't want any innocent strangers getting hurt because of him, and especially not his fellow guild members. He didn't want to risk it.

No one else could do it. It had to be Fairy Tail. Natsu had understood that from the very beginning; that was why he'd posed the request to me. No other wizard from any other guild could help us from here on out – not even Jellal, who knew about this _thing_ more than anyone else. None of them would be able to take on active roles in this.

In the end, Natsu had been right all along. I'd been the one who'd lost faith in him _and_ myself. If I didn't pull myself together, we wouldn't be able to do anything, and the monster would undoubtedly win and take Natsu away from us forever. I had to make this right, and I finally, _finally_ knew what my answer was.

I didn't think twice when I moved forward and pulled Natsu into my arms. He was still trembling beneath my hold as I embraced him. He didn't give any sort of reaction, but that didn't matter.

"I'm sorry, Natsu," I murmured as I pulled him closer. "You were right; I was losing faith in myself. It won't happen again. I'll do everything I can to help you, and so will everyone else. I promise."

I honestly have no idea how long we stayed that way. We could have been like this the whole night, with me holding Natsu in my arms and Happy perched right next to him on my bed, one paw on his friend's leg, like we'd all be struck dead by first light at the hands of fate. This moment was so poignant; I almost wished that it would stay this way forever. I didn't want anything to interrupt this. It was easy to imagine that the real world was nothing but a dream now, that the monster in Natsu's heart never existed and everything would work out without anybody getting hurt.

I almost didn't notice it, but I suddenly felt strong arms wrap around me and pull me in so close that my entire body was practically against his. It was so abrupt I let out a little yelp of surprise, which almost broke the atmosphere. Though it should've been obvious, I didn't think to assume that it had been Natsu who'd done that until I heard him speak, and it was the strangest thing – I didn't even consider feeling embarrassed.

"Thanks, Lucy." Those two words alone held so much weight that they nearly ended the moment on its own, but he kept going. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. Honestly, I…I'm scared, too. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to scare anybody…but I really feel like…at the least, you should know."

No, I didn't want to hear this. I couldn't bear to. The words "I'm scared" should never come out of Natsu's mouth, ever. This spoke too much against what Natsu was to us, and what he represented in our guild. I would've excused it as me just hearing things, but I could feel the tension in his arms, hear his ragged breathing, and feel the shakiness of his words…it was clear to me as day: He was definitely scared.

Happy must've noticed that, too, because he floated up and perched on Natsu's left shoulder. "Natsu…" he whispered, gazing at his friend with melancholy.

"I'm not scared of the monster or anything," he breathed, his arms tensing up all the more. "I'm more afraid of what I might do…of what – of what _it_ might do to you guys once it takes over…I don't want this thing to do anything bad to you guys…I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt all of you like that…"

"Don't worry about that," I cut in breathlessly. I couldn't take any more of this. I hated this wretched demon more and more with every word Natsu spoke. "You won't be the one doing anything to us. It'll be the monster, not you! We won't hold anything against you, because none of it will be your fault; I promise!"

"Lucy…"

I gripped his shoulders and managed to pull away from him, which was surprising (and somewhat unsettling at the same time; it was clear that Natsu was losing his grip in all terms of the phrase) so I could look at his face. There was a pleading look in his eyes so intense that it almost broke me on its own. It looked really fragile, like it would crack any minute and he'd break down completely. The tears streaking down his cheeks nearly clinched it.

"We'll do whatever it takes to help you, Natsu," I said firmly, doing my best to ignore his expression lest it dissuaded me. "So promise me that you won't talk like this ever again. I want you to be _you_. You have no idea…you don't know how much your confidence means to us. You give us the courage to do whatever we have to do, and we can't help if you're not confident, right?"

"Yeah," he answered so quickly he startled me. "I know. It's the same with me." He quickly dried his tears with his left sleeve and gave us a trace of his trademark smile. "Okay, it's settled. No more crying for me. It's really not like me at all, huh?"

Relief coursed through me so strongly that my knees turned to jelly – it was a good thing I was already on the ground, because I would have collapsed otherwise. I settled with crumpling against Natsu's lap – I couldn't move, regardless. I felt tears of my own spring into my eyes.

That must've freaked him out at least a little bit, because he suddenly took my shoulders into his hands and began stuttering, "H-hey, Lucy, you okay? Why're you crying; was it something I said?"

"No, it's not your fault," I assured him as I sat up and wiped the teardrops from the corners of my eyes. "I'm just relieved to have the Natsu we know and love back. Right, Happy?" I added as I turned to the blue cat.

"Aye!" he proclaimed happily from his position on Natsu's shoulder. "Welcome back, Natsu!"

This got a laugh out of him. "Well, I aim to please," he joked, and we all started laughing – maybe even a little bit too much given the situation, but we didn't care. The fog of gloom around us was finally gone for the moment, and we were going to savor every second of it.

I glanced at the window, and I was surprised to see how late it had gotten. I hadn't even noticed the time passing so quickly. To be fair, though, way too many things had happened for us to really take note of it.

"Wow…it's gotten pretty late," I remarked, prompting Natsu and Happy to turn and stare out the window to see for themselves.

"Man, I guess being mopey really makes time fly," Natsu observed.

"It's supposed to be the other way around, Natsu," Happy said pointedly. "Besides, it wasn't the mopey part that made the time go by so fast."

"It wasn't? Then what was?"

"I – I think it's high time we get to sleep, you guys," I cut in hurriedly before Happy could sneak a snarky comment in. "We wouldn't want to be tired tomorrow, you know?"

"You guys go ahead," Natsu said as he got up off the bed and made his way to the table and dropped himself into the wooden chair. "I'll be staying up tonight."

I was surprised. "Natsu, you need this rest more than any of us," I said worriedly. "You can't just –"

"I _know_, Lucy," he sighed irritably as he lowered his head onto the table. "Geez, it's not like I'm some stupid goldfish. I know what's at stake here."

"But then –"

"I'll be _fine_," he interrupted. He then let out a huge breath, staring at the opposite wall. "Besides, it's not like I'm exactly eager to sleep with some freaky demon lurking inside my chest waiting to haunt my nightmares."

I flinched at the casual manner in which he'd brought that up, but thankfully he didn't notice me this time. "Oh…right. Sorry."

"Forget it," he grumbled as he buried his face in his arms. "Just go to sleep already."

* * *

As expected, I couldn't fall sleep.

Too much was weighing on my mind right now. I was terrified of what tomorrow might bring – I knew what to expect, and that was probably the worst part. I knew what would happen before this time tomorrow, and I knew that it wouldn't be pleasant. And if Erza and the others didn't make it back before then…it would be even worse for all of us.

And of course, I was worried sick for Natsu in the middle of all this. I could only imagine the thoughts going through his head now, knowing what was coming tomorrow, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration. It took amazing conviction to keep his head cool in a situation like this – especially for someone like him. I knew that if I'd been the one in his shoes, I'd be freaking out like there was no tomorrow.

No matter Fairy Tail's reputation of incredible faith and strength of bonds, it took that very same strength to keep that faith. We make it look easy, but it's really not – it's just easier for us because we all love each other like family. I was still struggling with it now even after all the promises I'd made to him.

Though Happy was sound asleep next to my pillow, I couldn't get my eyes to close. A big reason for that was that I couldn't take my eyes off of Natsu, who was just barely visible in the moonlight. He hadn't moved from his spot at the table. His face was shadowed in the darkness of my room so I couldn't see his expression, but I didn't need to check to guess the mood he was in. At least from my position, I was only looking at the left side of him that had the sleeve covering his arm so I didn't have to see his bare right shoulder where his Fairy Tail mark had been.

"You're still awake, aren't you?" Natsu said suddenly, shocking me so much I almost fell out of bed. I think I may have even yelped at a point.

"Natsu…" I began, flustered, "how did you –"

"You were breathing too hard," he said simply. "You're quieter than that when you're asleep."

I kept forgetting about his animal-like senses. Honestly, they were too sharp for his own good.

Hold on…how did he know what I sounded like while I was asleep? He couldn't have been watching me sleep at some point…right? That was just too creepy to think about. Natsu didn't strike me as a pervert…though all things considered…

"You know that I'd be watching you sleep anyway, right?" he said without warning again. "Besides, look who's talking; Miss Flying Naked Lucy."

I felt a tic going in my forehead. He just _had_ to remind me of that traumatic incident. Heck, I still had nightmares about that day – and not just because a giant dragon had been trying to eat me right after he'd magically removed my clothes. "Geez, since when did you become a mind reader, Natsu?" I grumbled, pulling my blanket up to my chin. I had to suppress the urge to throw my pillow at him.

He chuckled quietly without a hint of humor. "I'm not a mind reader. You just make it really obvious. You don't do much to hide what you're feeling; you ever notice that?"

Yes, I was painfully aware of that fact. I'm not good at hiding things from people; my face is always like an open book – at least, that's what my father had always said. But he didn't have to go and rub it in; I already knew.

"Yeah," I mumbled through the covers. "But I can't really help it, you know? It's just a habit, I guess…since my dad never paid attention to me when I was little, I had to learn to make my feelings clear to him or else he'd never understand what I wanted. It probably just carried over."

Natsu didn't say anything in reply, which I was actually grateful for. I didn't want to think about my dad right now – not in the middle of all this. His death was already tough for me to accept; I didn't want to dwell on what could have been. Besides that, it must've been hard on Natsu to hear me talk about my father after Igneel left him all that time ago. It was still a sensitive subject for him – the subject of his father, and dragons in general. He didn't need that kind of baggage right now. None of us did.

"Sleepy yet?" he asked after a minute or two of silence. He sounded strange, and I couldn't place his tone. Impatient? Disappointed?

I shook my head. "Not really," I admitted. "I can't stop thinking about tomorrow."

Natsu sighed in exasperation. "C'mon, can't you make this easier?" he complained, righting himself on the chair. "Try not to think about it; just take it as it comes. It's not a walk in the park for me, either, and you all know how much I _love_ dwelling on complicated stuff."

"I…well…I just find it difficult to understand how you can be like this right now, that's all," I said nervously.

"Seriously, Lucy," he said resignedly, resting his chin on his hand as he turned to look at me. He looked like a ghost in the pale moonlight – silvery, transparent, and glowing; a visual I really didn't need right now. "I told you already that this isn't easy for me, either. I'm trying not to think about it just because things will just get more annoying to handle if I did."

I curled up on my side as I muttered, "I really get jealous of you sometimes with your simple view on life."

"You just think too much."

"Yeah, I've heard."

"Well, then; do something about it." There was no inflection in those words.

"Easier said than done," I sighed, rolling over to stare at the ceiling. "Same with sleeping."

"Should I help you with that?" he offered. There was no double meaning behind his proposal, but I was still wary.

"How?" I asked suspiciously. "You don't know Sleep magic or anything like that."

"Yeah, I don't. But I didn't say I'd be using Sleep magic."

I bristled as I slowly comprehended the direction this conversation was taking. "You're not seriously thinking of knocking me out by punching me in the stomach, are you?" I demanded in a furious whisper.

"Is there a problem with that?" Again, no emphasis on his words. His lack of expressive language disturbed me for some reason.

"Yeah, too many to count," I hissed in lieu of yelling at him in the middle of the night. "Are you insane or something?"

"Wanna try me?" he challenged half-heartedly, like he wouldn't particularly care if I refused. Seriously, what was _up_ with him right now? He was acting so weird.

"No thank you," I said stiffly, flipping over under my covers so I wouldn't have to look at him. "I'm just gonna go to sleep now."

"Good. You need the beauty sleep."

There were so many choice words I felt like flinging at him right now, but it wasn't the time or place. I pulled my blanket up to my nose and closed my eyes. I must've been more tired than I thought, because I fell asleep before I even realized it.

* * *

"Lucy?" someone called from somewhere above me. "Lucy, wake up!"

I rolled over under the covers, still half-asleep. I struggled to open my eyes, but the bright light of the morning sun nearly blinded me, prompting me to pull the covers over my head.

"Get up, Lucy!" another voice yelled this time. "Natsu's gone missing!"

That woke me up.

"What?!" I exclaimed, bolting upright and throwing the covers off of myself. It took me a second or two, but I realized that Happy hadn't been the one to wake me up. I looked to my bedside and found –

"Gray! Erza!" I cried in surprise. "And Wendy and Carla! What are you all doing here?"

"We decided to drop in on you guys this morning to see how things were going," Gray began darkly, "but when we got here, Natsu was gone."

"Natsu's gone?!" My heart plummeted to the soles of my feet. I glanced frantically around the room, but there was no sign of him. The chair he'd been sitting in last night was empty, and pushed into the desk as if he'd intended on not returning for a long while.

No, no, no, no. This could _not_ be happening. "But how – when did he – ?!"

"Not only that, but Happy is gone, too!" Carla went on feverishly, raising her tiny paw indignantly. "We can't find the two of them anywhere!"

"You don't think he followed Natsu last night, do you?" Wendy asked fearfully. "I mean, it's happened before, so…"

"This is bad," Erza said through tight lips, clenching her fists. "If Natsu's gone, we won't be able to meet the deadline for sunset tonight. Of all the times this could have happened…why now…!"

Hearing those words reminded me of what Natsu had forced me to promise last night. He'd been sure that we wouldn't be able to meet the deadline and had made me promise to go at him with the intent to kill once the monster took him over. I'd been hoping somewhere in the back of my mind that Natsu would be the one to break it to them, because it only made so much sense, but…no such luck. Did he possibly force me to make that promise right then because he'd known that he wouldn't be around when everyone else came back?

_I need an answer from you __now__, Lucy – while I'm still around to hear it,_ he'd ordered me.

Suddenly I felt like someone had poured ice-cold water down my throat. Oh, God. So this was why. It hadn't been just him being edgy and impatient. I felt even worse than ever, and my hatred for the monster increased tenfold for effectively saddling me with the responsibility of crushing my friends' spirits with the news telling them to try and kill their close friend. I abhorred it with every fiber in my being, and I would do anything and everything in my power to make this thing pay its dues.

"Guys," I began quietly, gaining everyone's attention without much effort, "there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Gray asked urgently. "Is it about Natsu?"

I nodded, doing my best to keep my tears at bay. "We were talking last night, about – about this game, and…he made me promise something then. Because he probably knew he wouldn't be here when you guys got back and…wanted me to be the one to tell you."

A shadow crossed Erza's face at my words. "Go on, Lucy. What did he tell you?"

I swore to myself at that moment – if we managed to get through this somehow and get Natsu back, I would take the monster that had ruined our lives and make it rue the day that it messed with our closest friend. I didn't care what happened to me. I had to make it pay.

"Well," I continued slowly, "he told me that…"

* * *

_Yes, I'm aware that Natsu was acting really un-Natsu-like right here even without the stupid monster thing. It's intentional._

_Lucy's spine has officially grown two whole sizes as of his chapter. I can't believe how suggestive this chapter turned out to be. It might as well be called "I Ship Natsu and Lucy". Haha…yeah the two are totally gonna end up together in canon. XD This will totally definitely absolutely not become significant later. I swear._

_Anyway, yes. Things are getting really serious now. Natsu's gone and run off on our resident girl and kitty cat without warning; where do you think he went? What'll happen now that he's out from under their watch? And where the heck were Gray and Erza when we needed them? Argh, the stress! *spork'd*_

_Okay, sorry; I'll stop now. But one last thing…_

_I HATE YOU, GRAY. YOU AND YOUR STUPID ICE MAGIC. AND I HATE MYSELF FOR CHOOSING TO NARRATE WITH YOU._

…_Alright. I'm done for real now. See you next chapter, whenever that happens._


End file.
